Of Legend and Lies
by Hazeljv
Summary: Gaara hasn't seen his childhood friend, Ayaka, in years. However, the two are able to reconnect while getting Gaara's genin team ready for the Chunnin Exams. But when they go to Konoha for the event, things begin to go wrong. Very wrong. GaaraXOC.
1. There's No Place Like The Desert

**Okay, here's my new fic. **

**Please note that Gaara is 17 in this fic, and the Shukaku has not been extracted. Basically it's as if Shippuden never happened. **

**Disclaimer: I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't own Naruto. But I do own Ayaka Takahashi, Kaito Arashi and Susumu.**

Chapter One

There's No Place Like the Desert

"Finally… I'm finally back." Ayaka Takahashi said as she approached the Hidden Sand Village. She was 18 years old, 5 foot 4, pale and slim. Her hair was waist length and jet black with bright red streaks and her eyes were bright amber. She wore black mid-thigh length shorts and a red v-neck tank-top over a fishnet shirt with elbow-length sleeves.

"Who are you?" One of the guards at the gate asked, eyeing Ayaka suspiciously. She pointed to the Hidden Sand headband around her arm.

"Ayaka Takahashi." She said. Both the guards' eyes widened.

"Oh, sorry. Welcome back to the village, Takahashi-san." The other guard said. Ayaka smiled and walked past them.

"I better go see the Kazekage… I heard there's a new one." Ayaka murmured to herself, squinting at the Kazekage tower in the distance. She walked through the village, getting some weird looks, which she ignored. When she got to the Kazekage tower she went straight to the Kazekage's office and knocked.

"Enter." A rough voice answered. Ayaka pushed open the heavy door and walked in until she was standing in front of a desk that was piled with paper. The only thing she could see of the Kazekage was a shock of red hair and the red kanji for love on the left side of his forehead.

"No way." She gaped, not even realizing she had said it out loud until the Kazekage's brow furrowed.

"What is it?" The redhead demanded, his patience running thin. He had been going through report after report after report all day and a headache was pounding behind his eyes. Ayaka shook her head, a grin breaking out on her face.

"Gaara? You're the new Kazekage?" She asked, rather loudly. Gaara stood, looking curiously over the stacks of paper.

"Ayaka Takahashi?" He questioned, blinking. Ayaka nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I'm back!" She exclaimed. Gaara's lips twitched into the ghost of a smile and he emerged from behind his desk. Ayaka bounced over to him and hugged him tightly.

"You've been gone a very long time. Another few months and I would have sent an ANBU team to check on you." Gaara said, his voice stern. Ayaka smiled sheepishly, refusing to let go of her childhood friend.

"It takes time to gather as much information on the Akatsuki as I have." She answered defensively.

"True… would you mind letting go now?" A light blush was beginning to spread across the stoic Kazekage's face.

"I haven't seen you in six years, Panda-kun. Let me have my moment." Ayaka whined, tightening her arms around his torso. Gaara sighed.

"Alright, alright…"He agreed with a huff.

"Didn't you miss me, Panda-kun?" Ayaka pouted. Gaara frowned.

"I thought I did… then I remembered how annoying you are." He grumbled. Ayaka laughed.

"I missed you too." She said, giving him a peck on the cheek. Gaara's face was almost as red as his hair. Suddenly someone cleared their throat from the door. Ayaka let go of Gaara, but linked her arm through his.

"Hello Matsuri." Gaara greeted the brunette at the door. Matsuri tore her glare from Ayaka to smile at Gaara.

"Hello Gaara-sensei… Kaito, Susumu and I were waiting at the training grounds but you didn't show up…" Matsuri explained, her gaze flicking to Ayaka throughout her explanation.

"Oh, sorry, I got distracted." Gaara admitted. Ayaka suddenly burst out laughing, causing Gaara to roll his eyes and Matsuri to glare at her.

"Panda-kun… You have a genin team?" Ayaka demanded, still laughing. Matsuri frowned.

"Why wouldn't Gaara-sensei have a team?" She asked, sounding offended. Ayaka gave Matsuri a weird look.

"Trust me, if you knew Panda-kun as long as I have, you'd understand. By the way, I'm Ayaka Takahashi. Who are you?" Ayaka offered Matsuri a grin.

"I'm Matsuri." Matsuri said, trying not to scowl at her sensei's friend.

"Well, we should go… Come with us, Ayaka, we could use your taijutsu skills." Gaara said, looking at his friend. Ayaka thought about it for a moment.

"Sure. I'm always up for whipping genin into shape." She grinned.

"Alright, let's go. Matsuri, go ahead and tell Kaito and Susumu that I have a challenge for you all." Gaara said. Matsuri gave a nod and ran off.

"Does she like you?" Ayaka demanded the minute Matsuri was gone. One of Gaara's invisible eyebrows rose.

"How'd you guess?" He enquired. Ayaka's eyebrows also rose.

"How could I not? She was looking at me as if she wanted to claw off my face." She exclaimed as they walked to the training fields. Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Overreacting?" He asked.

"Trust me, as a female, I can sense de-facing intent. And she totally has it out for my face." Ayaka said, a grim expression on said face.

"I'm sure you can take her." Gaara smirked. Ayaka pouted.

"Are you joking about the well-fare of my face? The world could not go on without this face!" Ayaka grinned. Gaara shook his head, smiling.

"Get serious." He said. Ayaka grinned evilly.

"What are the boys like?" She asked.

"Kaito is a lot like Sasuke Uchiha, too cool for everything. And Susumu is… a total pervert. I'd watch out for him." Gaara warned lightly. Ayaka cracked her knuckles.

"I'm going to have some fun…" She murmured, putting on a stoic face as they entered the training ground.

"Team 3, this is my friend Ayaka Takahashi." Gaara said, pushing Ayaka forward. Ayaka frowned at the three genin.

"Hmph." A boy with short silvery hair and green eyes glanced at her without interest.

"Kaito, use your words." Ayaka snapped. Kaito narrowed his eyes.

"So, this is your 'challenge'? Hey, I'm—" Ayaka cut off the second boy, who had light blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Susumu. Can you do me a favour?" Ayaka paused. Susumu nodded. Then Ayaka's expression darkened. "Stop staring at my chest. If you can't keep your eyes off of my body, I will remove them from yours." She growled. Susumu's eyes widened and he stumbled back a few steps. Kaito smirked. Matsuri openly glared at Ayaka.

"Okay, listen up, _Maggots _**(A/N: Obscure Anko references FTW!). **Your challenge begins now. And it's simple." Ayaka paused and placed three pendants on chains around her neck. "Each of you must get one of these before noon in two day's time."

"Or what?" Matsuri asked, slightly smug, as if she expected there was no 'or what'. Ayaka smirked, but Gaara answered for her.

"Or you will not be participating in this year's chunin exams." He said, meeting each of his startled student's gazes.

"You have forty-eight hours. Any other questions?" Ayaka asked. Kaito's eyebrow rose.

"Why forty-eight hours?" He questioned. Ayaka grinned maliciously.

"Trust me, you'll need every second of it." Gaara said. The three genin looked surprised.

"Your time starts now!" Ayaka grinned and then she and Gaara disappeared. The three remaining ninja looked at each other.

"Okay, Gaara said she was good at taijutsu, so we should use long-range attacks." Matsuri said. Kaito nodded.

"I say we batter her with some long-range attacks, then Matsuri can get close enough to use her rope javelin, and then we can get the necklaces." He strategized. Susumu grinned.

"Perfect. We'll be done before midnight."

…

"A cocky bunch you've got. Their strategy is a good one… if they were against a mere genin." Ayaka commented to Gaara. They were in a tree a few yards from Team 3, masking their chakra.

"Yes, but you used to be ANBU." Gaara pointed out, frowning.

"Hey, I'm still an ANBU!" Ayaka said, sticking her tongue out at the redhead. He just rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to attack them now, or make them look for you?" He asked. Ayaka grinned.

"I'll ambush them now and injure one of them. Then I'll leave them to fear our next encounter. That'll deflate their egos a bit." She said, her tone serious. Gaara nodded.

"Don't hurt them too much." He said. Ayaka scoffed.

"Duh. I'm just going to hurt Susumu enough to scare them a bit." She said.

"You really don't like him much, do you?" Gaara deadpanned. Ayaka gave him a look.

"You would feel the same way if he spent the ENTIRE time we were explaining the challenge staring at your chest... well, not that you have anything on your chest to look at... You know what I mean!" She grumbled. Gaara smirked.

"Well, you are much more womanly than—" Ayaka cut Gaara off with a glare. "Okay, okay. Just go terrify them." Ayaka grinned and ruffled his hair (much to Gaara's irritation) before disappearing.

…

"Now, we have to find her." Matsuri murmured. Kaito and Susumu nodded and all three were silent while they thought.

"Hello kiddies." Ayaka grinned at them from a tree branch above their heads.

"I guess we don't have to find her." Kaito stated the obvious. Ayaka jumped down to stand in the middle of the small circle the three had made.

"Well?" She asked, smirking. "Come get me."

**Hope everyone likes it. ^_^**

**I need some OCs for genin teams for Temari and Kankuro, along with genin teams for some Konoha ninja, so submit as many as you want. **

**I'll need:**

**-Six Sand genin (at least)**

**-Six Leaf genin (at least)**

**-Three (at least) genin from other villages **

**The format for the OCs can be found at the end of my profile.**


	2. Long Days and Long Nights

**You have rachel the gleek to thank for how fast this chapter was out.**

**Pressure is the best medicine if you're stuck.**

**Disclaimer: I own Ayaka, Kaito, Kai and Susumu.**

Chapter Two

Long Days and Long Nights

The three genin exchanged a startled glance before Kaito made some hand signs.

"Lightning Storm Jutsu." The sky, which had been clear a moment earlier, filled with clouds and lightning began striking at Ayaka while a harsh wind nearly knocked her off her feet.

"Oh, we have an Arashi." Ayaka said thoughtfully, dodging a bolt of lightning. Kaito smirked.

"You figured that out pretty quickly." He said. Ayaka suddenly gasped and pointed at Kaito.

"You're Kai Arashi's son!" She exclaimed. All three genin looked surprised.

"How do you know my dad?" Kaito asked suspiciously, the wind picking up slightly. Ayaka laughed.

"He was my sensei. It's a small world after all..." She sang, grinning. Then she did some hand signs and the storm dispelled.

"How did you..." Kaito trailed off, shocked. He had never seen anyone eliminate the storm jutsu so easily.

"I figured it out while training with Kai-sensei." Ayaka said with a shrug.

"Alright, my turn." Susumu said, doing his own set of hand signs. "Earth Capture Jutsu." He slapped his palms to the ground and suddenly dozens of hands made of earth erupted from the ground, attempting to grab Ayaka.

"OH MY GOD! It's like the ultimate perv jutsu!" Ayaka yelled, dodging the earthen hands. Just when she thought she was in the clear, one of the hands grabbed her.

"We got her!" Matsuri said. All three genin grinned, that is, until the Ayaka in the hand disappeared and the real one reappeared, holding a kunai to Susumu's throat.

"Sorry, kiddies, but you can't get me that easily. They don't call me the Wind Shadow for nothing." She hissed. Susumu shuddered, feeling Ayaka's breath on the back of his neck.

"Wind Shadow..." Kaito murmured, the title tugging at his mind.

"Well, it's been fun. See you later." Ayaka said, silkily. Then she seemed to poke Susumu's ribs and disappeared. Susumu grunted in pain and held his side.

"Susumu! What's wrong?" Matsuri asked in concern. Susumu grimaced.

"I don't know what that bitch did, but I think she broke a few of my ribs." He hissed. Kaito and Matsuri exchanged a panicked glance. They were just beginning to understand what they were up against.

...

Ayaka reappeared beside Gaara and tried to hit him over the head, only to have his sand block the blow.

"Why didn't you tell me they had such high level attacks? They almost caught me off guard!" She hissed. Gaara smirked.

"Think of this as I test for them... And for you." He replied. Ayaka groaned.

"Fine. I think I'll leave them for now. I'll attack again at midnight." She said, begrudgingly. Gaara nodded.

"Good. That will give them time to heal Susumu and regroup. What did you do to him, anyway?" He looked at her curiously.

"It's a technique I created based on the Hyuuga Clan's gentle fist technique. You channel your chakra into a thin needle and drill it into your opponent's body. It does internal damage, it can even damage organs, if you channel it correctly." Ayaka paused, noting Gaara's warning glance. "Don't give me that look, I only did it enough to break a few ribs."

"Good. What will you do until midnight?" Gaara asked suspiciously. Ayaka laid back against the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes.

"Sleep. I'm going to be playing boogieman all night, I'll take my rest where I can get it." She replied. Gaara sighed and turned to watch his students in the clearing.

-Midnight-

Kaito sat awake beside his sleeping teammates, watching the forest carefully. A small fire burned in front of him. Normally, they wouldn't dare light a fire when they were in risk of being attacked, however, they knew Ayaka would find them whether they had a fire or not, so there was no point.

"That woman is strange... Dangerous, but strange. And that title... Wind Shadow... There's something about it... She's puzzling." Kaito murmured to himself, poking at the fire with a stick.

"Why thank you, sweetheart." Ayaka's sugary voice whispered. Kaito froze as warm breath cascaded over his ear and one of Ayaka's slender hands grabbed him by his hair. Kaito opened his mouth to alert his team to the intruder, but Ayaka's hand tightened, pulling out strands of his fair hair.

"Don't mention it." Kaito hissed, letting a kunai slide into his hand from up his sleeve. Ayaka chuckled darkly, making the younger boy shiver.

"How old are you kids, anyway?" She asked, gently prying the kunai from Kaito's grasp. Kaito scowled, but he was in no position to defy her.

"We're all fourteen." He replied, begrudgingly. Ayaka brought her lips to his ear and blew against his earlobe, snickering at the way the boy cringed.

"I'll have fun playing with you." She whispered, digging her nails into his shoulder. Suddenly Matsuri groaned and rubbed her eyes.

"Kaito...? What are you doing? You look like you just saw a ghost." She said, looking at the silver-haired boy. Kaito was shocked to realize that Ayaka had disappeared, leaving behind only the faint smell of orchids.

"I... I'm fine." Kaito muttered, not meeting Matsuri's worried gaze. He didn't know exactly why he didn't tell her what happened. Maybe because it made him look weak and his teammates looked up to him.

"Okay... Hey, it's past midnight, I'll take the next shift. Get some rest." Matsuri gave Kaito a small smile and climbed out of her sleeping bag. Kaito nodded and laid down, quickly falling asleep.

"Hm, I wonder what happened to Kaito..." Matsuri mumbled, staring at the fire.

...

"That was rather creepy." Gaara commented, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I live for creepy." Ayaka quipped with a sinister grin. Gaara simply shook his head.

"What were you going for there, anyway?" He asked, his brow furrowed.

"I was going for creepy like Orochimaru, but like a sexy female Orochimaru." Ayaka chirped, hanging upside-down from a tree branch. Gaara resisted the urge to face palm.

"Mission accomplished." He murmured instead, his tone heavy with sarcasm.

"Thank you, Kazekage-sama." Ayaka teased. Gaara growled under his breath.

"That's worse than 'Panda-kun', coming from you." He muttered. Ayaka chuckled.

"Fine, Panda-kun it is!" She announced, flipping back to the ground and bowing dramatically to Gaara. "I must be going, Panda-kun. Genin to scare and what not." She finished in a snobby voice before disappearing.

Gaara sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"As Temari's secret leaf boyfriend would say, 'What a troublesome girl'."

...

All three genin jumped up as smoke filled their small clearing.

"It's a smoke bomb." Kaito observed.

"Very good, sweetheart." They could hear Ayaka's voice coming from all directions, confusing them.

"What is that, some cougar-ish pet name?" Matsuri sneered. A few kunai flew at the genin from all directions.

"I'm too young to be a cougar, and arrogant children aren't my type." Ayaka's voice purred, echoing through the clearing. Suddenly Ayaka appeared, wielding a long black whip.

"So now the real battle begins." Susumu grinned and opened a scroll. He bit his thumb and wiped the blood on the scroll, summoning a large black spider-like puppet. Kaito took out his own summoning scroll and, to Ayaka's slight surprise, summoned a huge sword. And Matsuri took out her rope javelin.

"Wow, those are some good weapons for a bunch of brats." Ayaka sneered, cracking her whip. Susumu's fingers twitched and the spider puppet sprang forward. Ayaka flicked her wrist and the whip lashed out, sending the puppet flying.

"If you aren't prepared to kill me, you won't defeat me." Ayaka taunted, clicking her tongue.

"Are you saying we have to kill you?" Matsuri asked, sounding shocked. Ayaka chuckled.

"No. I'm saying you have to try." She replied, seeming amused. "But enough talk." Ayaka's gaze swept over the genin and she scowled, realizing Kaito had disappeared.

Then, the next thing she knew, she was ducking as Kaito's huge sword sliced the air where her neck had been, cutting off a few strands of black and red hair.

Ayaka flicked her whip and coiled it around Kaito's leg, then she tightened it. Kaito cried out in pain and fell to his knees as the whip recoiled.

"You said we had to aim to kill. So I did." Kaito smirked, even through his pained expression as Susumu's puppet spat dozens of senbon (that Ayaka assumed were poisoned) at the crouched ANBU.

Ayaka rolled out of the way of most of the senbon. Only one managed to scratch her right arm, instantly numbing it and making her drop her whip. And before she could recover from her hap-hazard roll, Matsuri's rope javelin caught one of the necklaces, ripping it from her neck.

"Very impressive. When you three drag out the big guns and work together, you're quite a force to be reckoned with." Ayaka panted, rubbing her now red neck. "I underestimated you. That's a rookie mistake that I won't make again. See you later, kiddies." Ayaka smirked and grabbed her whip with her good hand before jumping into the trees.

"Should we follow her?" Susumu asked, looking back at Matsuri and Kaito. Matsuri had knelt beside Kaito, who had his injured leg stretched in front of him.

"I think Kaito's leg is broken. I'll need time to heal it." Matsuri said, laying her green-glowing hands on Kaito's leg. The silver-haired boy flinched, but didn't make a sound.

"Alright. I just hope that poison is enough to keep her occupied for a while..." Susumu murmured, staring out at the trees.

...

"Son of a motherfucking bitch." Ayaka grunted as Gaara took out a very large needle.

"Wow. Could you fit a few more curses in there?" He asked, rolling his eyes. Ayaka nodded, staring at the needle in terror as Gaara filled it with clear liquid.

"Son of a damn motherfucking goddamned bitch. There." She said. But her usually sharp-tongue wasn't in the sentence. She just sounded scared.

"Honestly. You spent six years gathering information on the Akatsuki, your parents were murdered in front of you when you were five, you have an IQ of 211, and you were an ANBU at the age of NINE. Yet, you are afraid of one tiny needle." Gaara shook his head in a condescending way.

"That thing is ANYTHING but TINY!" Ayaka exclaimed, pointing the offending object in Gaara's hand. Gaara sighed.

"That toxin will spread throughout your body, slowly numbing it and shutting down your organs until you die. Slowly. Do you want that?" Gaara's eyes turned steely and Ayaka could tell that his patience was gone. She held out her arm and closed her eyes.

"Hurry up before I change my mind." She said, shakily. Gaara smirked and jabbed the needle into her arm, earning a bloodcurdling scream from Ayaka.

"Done." Gaara grunted. Ayaka didn't hear him, because she was still screaming. Gaara growled and pressed his hand against her mouth. "Cut it out." He hissed. Ayaka's eyes snapped open and for a second they just stared at each other. Wide, bright amber versus narrowed, cold jade. Then Gaara let his hand drop and the moment was over.

"Thanks..." Ayaka murmured, suddenly feeling very conscious of how silly she had acted, which confused and frustrated her. She had always, ALWAYS acted quirky around Gaara, so why should she feel weird about it? For that, not even her 211 IQ had an answer.

"How do you feel?" Gaara asked, his gaze unfocused. Gaara was also confused. As children they had held hands, hugged, sparred, and Ayaka had even kissed him on the cheek before she left. Yet, the contact had never left a lasting impression, had never affected him. But now... Just the act of covering her mouth had made him feel something foreign. His hand tingled and his stomach seemed to be flipping. It was very unpleasant.

Ayaka rolled her shoulders and stretched out her right arm.

"Everything feels good. Thanks, Panda-kun." She gave Gaara a dazzling smile, which he acknowledged with a small smile.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked. Ayaka shrugged and sat back against a tree. Gaara smirked at how relaxed she looked.

"I think I'll let them hunt me now, let the prey become the predators."

**So, there it is. I hope it wasn't confusing... :D**

**I still need lots of OCs.**

**-Five Sand Genin (at least)**

**-Five Leaf Genin (at least)**

**-Three Genin from other villages (at least)**

**Template can be found at the bottom of my profile.**

**P.S.: Thanks to rachel the gleek and Patissiere1683 for sending in OCs. ^_^**


	3. End of the Line

**I'm at rachel the gleek's house, so she's been bothering me for the last six hours. -_-**

**HAPPY NOW, RACHEL? No, she's never happy. -_-**

**Disclaimer: I only own Ayaka, Kaito, Susumu, Manabu, and Aeri.**

Chapter Three

End of the Line

Ayaka watched the setting sun with a frown. The sky was burning a brilliant red/orange colour, making everything feel more alive.

'_What's that saying about red skies and sailors?' _She mused.

"They've wasted the day away healing Kaito and fruitlessly hunting me. They only have eighteen hours left." She murmured. Gaara shrugged, also watching the sun descend below the horizon.

"I have faith in my students." He said simply, his tone final. Ayaka sighed, standing, and made three sand clones.

"Split up and keep the brats busy for a bit. If you can, lead them to me." She said boredly, waving a hand at the clones. They nodded and sped off.

"Feeling lazy?" Gaara smirked, amused. Ayaka shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah, kind of. It's been a long day." She sighed, stretching her legs out and leaning against Gaara's side. It only took her a few minutes to fall asleep.

Gaara could almost laugh at her, the way she completely let her guard down so easily.

'**Maybe because she knows you'll protect her**_._' The Shukaku sneered, rearing it's ugly head for the first time in months.

'_What do you mean?_' Gaara asked, not trusting the demon's tone.

'**Are you really so daft, child?**' The Shukaku laughed, a cold, harsh laugh.

'_What the hell are you talking about?_'

'**I gave you far too much credit, you're an idiot.**'

'_Just answer the damn question!' _Gaara practically growled, angered by the demon's amusement.

_'Never mind._** Maybe I'll tell you later, ignorant runt.**' The Shukaku snickered and disappeared to wherever it went. Gaara sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair.

'_What the hell was that?_'

...

"Guys, we've been searching for her since noon, we aren't going to find her." Susumu said, sitting under a tree. Kaito and Matsuri also sat. By then it was almost completely dark in the forest setting.

"Maybe we should just set up camp..." Matsuri suggested, halfheartedly. Kaito shook his head, his fist clenching.

"We have less than eighteen hours until the challenge is over, and we only have one necklace. Not to mention, that was a fluke. Obviously Gaara-sensei didn't tell her of our abilities, but now... Now, she knows exactly what she's up against." He explained, frustrated. Matsuri and Susumu exchanged a glance.

"You're right... We don't have a chance, do we?" Matsuri asked quietly, crestfallen. Kaito sighed, equally disheartened.

"I wouldn't say we have no chance, but it's not likely we'll get the other two necklaces. Especially if we can't find her." He said, frowning.

"Kaito, is something bugging you? You've seemed distant for a while now..." Susumu commented, analyzing the other boy's face. Kaito's lips twitched in irritation.

"It's that damn woman. Where did she even COME from? How does she know Gaara-sensei?

We don't even know what rank she is, for Kami's sake!" He exclaimed, slamming his fist into the ground.

"Kaito..." Matsuri murmured, staring at her teammate in shock. Then she remembered something. "When I went to get Gaara-sensei before, I walked in on Ayaka kissing his cheek..." She said, slowly. Susumu straightened slightly, taking a bit more interest in the conversation.

"Do you think they were, or are, lovers?" He asked, his eyebrows raised. Kaito shook his head. Matsuri's eyes narrowed dangerously at the mere thought of Ayaka and Gaara being together.

"Probably not. Besides, I've never seen her around the village. She just appeared out of thin air. And what about that title of hers... The Wind Shadow. I know I've heard it before..." Kaito trailed off with a groan, rubbing his forehead.

"We could just ask her." Susumu noted. Kaito and Maturi both looked surprised. Neither of them had thought of that.

"Except we can't find her." Matsuri said. Susumu shrugged, as if it were a totally irrelevant piece of information.

"Find who?" All three Ayaka clones asked as they walked out of the shadows. The genin jumped up, startled by the sudden appearance.

"Clones?" Matsuri mused, wary. The three clones smiled and nodded in unison. The genin found them unnerving.

"If you runts want the answers you seek, you'll have to find the real Ayaka Takahashi." The clones sang. The three genin looked at each other, then they each attacked a clone.

"Can't catch me." The first clone laughed, dodging Kaito's sword and fleeing into the trees.

"Kaito! Don't..." Matsuri began, watching her teammate run out of sight in pursuit of the clone. But it was too late.

"Damn woman." Kaito hissed, feeding some chakra into his sword and swinging it in a large arc. A wave of air sliced through the trees in front of him, cutting them to pieces. The Ayaka clone was cut in half, and dissolved into sand. Kaito stopped, panting slightly. "Fuck." He grunted. The quiet sound of clapping came from ahead, just past the area Kaito's jutsu had destroyed. He ran toward the sound, knowing what, or rather, who, would be at the end.

"Very good, sweetheart." Ayaka grinned as Kaito skidded to a halt a few feet from her. Ayaka stood leaning against a tree, her arms crossed over her chest, a small smirk pulling at her lips. Kaito wasted no time in swinging his large sword around, holding it to Ayaka's throat.

"What are you playing at?" He demanded, glaring at her. Ayaka chuckled, seeming completely unconcerned about the huge blade that was inches from her jugular.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about." She replied, amused. Kaito scowled.

"Who are you? Where did you come from? How do you know Gaara-senei?" He half growled. Ayaka's lips twitched.

"I'm Ayaka Takahashi. Kaito, you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much, they decide to have sex and..." Ayaka trailed off as the sword moved dangerously close to her pale throat.

"That's not what I mean. I've never seen you in the village before." Kaito's face was stony, his tone sharp.

"I've been on a mission for the last six years, gathering information on the Akatsuki." Ayaka said with a shrug. Kaito's eyes narrowed. They were both silent for a moment, Ayaka in expectance and Kaito in thought. Then Kaito's eyes widened.

"The Wind Shadow... You're that girl, the girl who became an ANBU when she was only nine years old." He exclaimed. Ayaka smirked, nodding.

"Do you know how I got that nickname, Kaito?" She asked, her tone going dark and dangerous.

"No..." Kaito watched her suspiciously. Ayaka sighed.

"I might as well tell you. Ever since I could walk, I've been training as a ninja, and I've always been REALLY good at it. Probably because I have my clan's kekki genki, I was born with twice the amount of chakra most ninja have. This kekki genki only appears in one child every five generations of the Takahashi clan.

As you can imagine, this is a very sought-after kekki genki. So, when I was five, these creepy sound ninjas tried to kidnap me. My parents tried to defend me and they got killed, right in front of my eyes. When the ninja came after me, I used a jutsu that I created right on the spot, and have since perfected: The Wind of 1000 Shadows Jutsu. It takes the shadows of the enemy ninjas and uses them to make the air around you into 1000 shuriken, senbon or kunai that will only injure the ninja whose shadow you used." Ayaka explained, her expression neutral. Kaito blinked, surprised.

"Well, how do you know Gaara-sensei, then?" He asked, determined to get the answers he wanted.

"After I killed those ninja, I didn't know what to do. I left the compound and went to the only place I could think of, the playground where my mother would take me. I just sat on a bench and cried. I didn't have any other family. I had no one to go to. I had no idea what I'd do... Then Gaara showed up. He didn't speak, he just sat beside me and put his hand on my shoulder. And in the morning he took me to see his dad, the 4th Kazekage. We've been friends ever since." A small smile spread across Ayaka's face at the memory. Kaito watched her closely.

'_Oh... she's..._' His thoughts were cut short as a thin rope whipped passed him, catching the remaining two necklaces around Ayaka's neck and pulling them free. Ayaka just smiled as Matsuri and Susumu dropped down from the trees beside Kaito, who pulled his sword away from Ayaka.

"We win!" Susumu cheered, high-fiving his teammates.

"Very good." Gaara said, appearing beside Ayaka. Susumu grinned, Matsuri blushed and Kaito smirked. "Looks like we'll be going to the Chunin Exams after all."

"Can we go see Temari and Kankuro? I haven't seen them in forever!" Ayaka begged, pulling on Gaara's sleeve. Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Alright, in fact, we have to go meet them and their teams in my office." He shrugged and then looked at his team. "Go get cleaned up and be at my office in half an hour." And with that, Gaara and Ayaka disappeared in a swirl of sand.

-Half an hour later in the Kazekage's Office-

"AYAKA!" Temari yelled, crushing the younger girl in a hug. Three genin followed the blond into the office.

"Who are they?" Ayaka asked as soon as she was released, turning to the odd-looking genin.

"I'm Manabu Koga." A boy of about ten said with a bow. He had spiky black hair, grey eyes, pale skin and he was only about 4 foot 7. He was thin and kind of lanky and wore a white t-shirt under a green sweater with khaki shorts and his headband around his left bicep.

"Yoshino Utikate." A much taller boy who was around twelve year old said. He had fiery red hair and was about 5 foot 4. He looked pretty strong, from what Ayaka could tell. The odd thing about the boy was his attire.

He wore a dark plate face mask that was laced at the back and had narrow slits for his eyes. There were also triangular holes for his mouth and ears. Along with that he wore a black t-shirt, light grey jeans with a black belt, blue ninja shoes, and a dark plate shoulder pad on his right shoulder that was made of the same material as the mask.

"..." The only girl of the team said nothing. She looked about twelve and had wavy, waist length silvery-blond hair with bangs that covered her eyes and she was very pale. She was petite, standing at only about 4 foot 11 and she was pretty thin. She wore black pants, a black tank top over a long sleeved netted shirt, black fingerless gloves, black ninja shoes and her headband was on blood red cloth around her neck.

"She doesn't talk much... well, at all." Temari whispered to Ayaka with a frown. Ayaka shrugged.

"... Aeri Kaminari..." The voice that spoke was timid and shaky, as if the girl hadn't spoken in a long time. Everyone in the room stared at Aeri, the blond girl, as she looked at Ayaka, letting the ANBU get a glimpse of her cloudy blue eyes.

"You're blind?" Ayaka asked curiously. Aeri nodded, looking down at the floor. Temari looked flabbergasted.

"She... talked!" She blinked, watching her pupil in absolute awe.

"Well then, I'm Ayaka Takahashi, nice to meet y'all." Ayaka said with a grin.

**Next chapter we'll meet Kankuro's team.**

**Yoshino Utikate belongs to Spartan237.**

**I still need:**

**-Two leaf genin **

**-Three other village genin**

**Thanks to rachel the gleek, Spartan237, sco23 and Patissiere1683 for sending in Ocs. ^_^**


	4. Demons, Dinner, Departure

**I know it took a while (well, longer than the first three chapters), but I have a good reason, which is: Summatives. Also, it's longer than usual (almost three thousand words, pretty good for me).**

**But my french summative is due today and my other summatives are pretty easy, so unless I go into a study-stupor to prepare for EQAO on Thursday, the next chapter should be up soonish.**

**Also, I'll be off for the entire week of the 23rd (because both of my exams are on the 21st), so I'll have plenty of time to write then, unless I'm cleaning out my room. -.-**

**Disclaimer: I only own Ayaka, Kaito, Susumu, Aeri, Manabu, and Kenta. That's it, everyone else belongs to someone else.**

Chapter Four

Demons, Dinner, Departure

"I see Team Four is late and Team Six is early, as usual." Susumu noted as he, Kaito and Matsuri walked into Gaara's office.

"Hey kiddies, what's up?" Ayaka asked casually, sitting on the floor in lotus position.

"Oh, you know, just celebrating our victory." Kaito said casually, danging one of the necklaces over Ayaka's head. Ayaka laughed.

"So Mr. Cool-and-Uptight can joke after all. Good to know." She said, batting at the necklace in a feline way. Kaito quickly lifted the necklace out of reach.

"Ayaka, if you don't stop acting like a cat, I'll buy you a pet bed and you can sleep in the kitchen." Gaara said, his tone surprisingly light. At that, Ayaka jumped up and hugged Gaara, her eyes going wide and pleading.

"Come on, Panda-kun, you wouldn't do that to me!" She said in the most adorable voice an ANBU could summon. Gaara stiffened, not even bothering to try and pry the girl off of him.

"Ayaka, let go of me." He hissed, blushing the barest shade of pink. Ayaka grinned, but didn't comply, watching Matsuri glare daggers at her out of the corner of her eye.

"What rank is she?" Manabu whispered to Temari, who face palmed.

"ANBU..." She muttered back, shaking her head at her friend. Manabu blinked.

"Ayaka..." Gaara warned as sand began emerging from his gourd, which was propped against the wall a few feet away.

"That's not fair..." Ayaka whined, quickly stepping away from the Kazekage. "I remember what happened last time." She pouted.

"Last time?" Yoshino asked. Temari shook her head again.

"Don't ask. It's not a pretty story." She said, looking a little nervous. All the genin in the room looked at each other, confused.

Suddenly the door opened and Kankuro led three genin in.

"KANKURO!" Ayaka yelled, launching herself at said man. "Panda-kun was being mean to me." She complained. Kankuro rolled his eyes and greeted his siblings with a nod.

"You're late, Kankuro." Gaara said. Kankuro smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah..." He trailed off and turned to his team, pulling Ayaka away from him. "Team Four, this is Ayaka Takahashi." He said, putting a hand on Ayaka's head, causing her to scowl and try to bite him.

"I'm Mayu." A thirteen year old girl with long brown hair and emerald eyes said. She was about 5 foot and wore a mid-thigh length green dress with brown knee-length pants and her headband around her neck.

"Kaori Jurou, nice to meet you." The genin that spoke looked about fourteen years old and 5 foot 3. They had short brown hair with bangs that hung in their blue eyes and wore black pants with a silver over-sized shirt and their headband around their waist. Ayaka couldn't figure out if the genin was male or female.

"I'm Kenta, it's a pleasure, Ms. Takahashi." The last boy said with a bow. He looked around thirteen, 5 foot 2 and had long dark brown hair in a low ponytail with green eyes. He wore a blue long sleeved shirt, black shorts, blue ninja shoes and had his headband around his forehead.

"Kankuro..." Ayaka trailed off, discreetly glancing at Kaori. Kankuro noticed this and just shrugged.

"Hell if I know." He said in answer of her unasked question.

"You don't know the gender of your own student?" She whispered in exasperation. Kankuro just shrugged again. Ayaka snorted. "Men..." She muttered.

"Listen up." Gaara said, crossing his arms and looking at the genin, who all lined up. Temari and Kankuro walked over to flank Gaara and I stood beside Temari, watching the nervous genin.

"As you know, the Chunin Exams begin in seven days. And all nine of you will be attending. We will meet at the village gates at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. Don't be late." Gaara paused, meeting each of their gazes.

"Hai!" They chorused. Gaara gave a slight nod.

"Dismissed." He said, turning and sitting down at his desk, the large stacks of paper hiding him. The genin left, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Kankuro and I will go pack. Meet us at the Akizakura Cafe in an hour, we can have dinner there." Temari said, leading Kankuro out.

"So you guys are all leaving for Konoha tomorrow?" Ayaka asked, crossing her arms and walking around Gaara's desk so she could actually see him.

He didn't look up as he was signing papers, but he recognized the tone she was using. She sounded betrayed, and something about it made his chest tighten and ache in an almost painful way.

"Yes. And so are you." Gaara said. Even though he didn't look up, he could tell Ayaka's expression had brightened.

"Really? What am I going to do?" She asked, excited. Gaara finally looked up.

"Well, the counsel won't very well let me leave Suna without protection, and when they heard that you were back, they insisted that you would be my personal guard." He said, frowning. He hated it when the counsel treated him like a child.

"Awesome" Ayaka exclaimed, grinning. Gaara almost winced, seeing the mischievous glint in her amber eyes. But he settled for a sigh and went back to signing papers.

...

Half an hour later, Gaara stood, leaving a mountain of papers in the 'done' pile. He felt bad for the person who would have to do the paperwork in his place, however, he was very happy to be able to leave the village for a bit.

He walked over to Ayaka, who had curled up on a chair and was now sleeping, and gently shook her shoulder. Ayaka blinked awake, frowning, but perked up when she saw Gaara.

"Come on, we have to go meet Kankuro and Temari." Gaara said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up.

"Okay!" Ayaka grinned and kept a firm grip on his hand. Gaara fought down a faint blush, slightly confused.

'_What's wrong with me lately?' _He thought in frustration as he led Ayaka out of the Kazekage tower.

'**I don't know how you could possibly be any more naive.**' The Shukaku said. Gaara frowned and refused to reply.

Suddenly a beehive dropped in front of them, hitting the ground with an ominous thud. Gaara and Ayaka exchanged a bewildered glance and looked up, but they couldn't see anyone on top of the Kazekage tower.

"That was... odd." Ayaka said, blinking owlishly. Gaara nodded and nudged the beehive with his foot, relieved when no bees came out. They both hated bees. After exchanging another glance they shrugged and headed toward the cafe.

They walked through the village in a comfortable silence, until they reached the cafe. Temari and Kankuro were waiting outside.

"Hey guys!" Temari greeted as they all walked into the cafe and sat at a booth. Gaara and Ayaka sat on one side as Temari and Kankuro sat on the other.

"Guess what? I get to go to Konoha as Panda-kun's bodyguard!" Ayaka said happily. Temari laughed and Kankuro smirked at his younger brother, who glared at him.

"I thought you weren't allowed in Konoha after that incident with the..." Temari was cut off by a frantic Ayaka.

"THAT WAS KIRIGAKURE! And they lifted my ban." Ayaka said, crossing her arms. Gaara sighed.

"Only because I made the 4th Kazekage convinced them you were harmless." He said. Ayaka shrugged and grinned at him.

"And that's why you're my best friend." She said. Gaara smiled slightly.

"Because I have power and influence, now more than ever?" He asked, teasingly. Ayaka nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep!" She agreed, making Kankuro and Temari laugh. A young boy walked over to their table, set down four cups of tea and took out a notepad.

"Hello, can I take your... Kankuro-sensei?" The boy stopped, looking at Kankuro, who looked only slightly surprised.

"Oh, hello Kenta." He said with a smile. His student looked at all four of them and then shrugged.

"Anyway... What would you like?" Kenta asked, looking at Kankuro.

"I'll have a hamburger steak." He said. Kenta nodded and wrote on the notepad before looking at Temari.

"Tofu soup, please." She said with a smile. Kenta then looked at Gaara, who looked unsure.

"He'll have salted tongue, and I'll have vegetable stir-fry." Ayaka piped up, surprising both Gaara and Kenta.

"Okay." Kenta gave a nod before walking toward the kitchen.

"How did you...?" Gaara trailed off, looking curiously at Ayaka, who shrugged.

"Did you expect me to forget your favourite food? As if, Panda-kun. Especially because it's so creepy." She teased. Gaara scowled, but chuckled when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's not creepy, it's different." He said defensively. Ayaka laughed.

"Sure, whatever floats your boat, Panda-kun." She replied, ruffling his hair. Gaara's eye twitched slightly and he grabbed her wrist.

"Stop that." He said, narrowing his eyes dangerously. Ayaka grinned, not at all bothered by his glare.

"Someone's a little grumpy." She mocked, pulling her wrist free. Gaara sighed and shook his head, hiding a smile.

"Wow, you're the only one who can bother him without getting killed." Kankuro commented, watching Ayaka and his brother curiously.

"It's a gift." Ayaka quipped with a shrug. "Hey, Temari, you've been awfully quiet." She continued, looking at the blond, who had a strange look on her face.

"What? Oh, yeah, just thinking." Temari said quickly, a little too quickly. Ayaka and Gaara exchanged a glance, eyebrows raised.

"Okay..." The two chorused, sounding uncertain. An uncomfortable silence fell, which was interrupted by Kenta, who was carrying a tray full of food.

"Thank you, Kenta." Kankuro said as the young genin placed the food in front of them.

"You're welcome, Kankuro-sensei, Gaara-sama, Temari-sama, and Ayaka-sama." Kenta bowed and then left.

"Very polite kid." Ayaka noted, breaking apart her chop sticks and picking at her stir fry.

"You should see him after he has some sugar, it's insane. That kid only needs a tiny bit of sugar to have the biggest sugar rush I've ever seen." Kankuro said. The other three looked surprised.

"Worse than when Temari ate dango for the first time?" Ayaka asked, her eyes wide with child-like wonder. Kankuro nodded.

"Hey! That was YOUR fault!" Temari exclaimed, crossing her arms. Ayaka shrugged.

"How was I supposed to know that you reacted so... extremely... to dango? It was an innocent mistake." She retorted, pouting. Temari chuckled.

"There is nothing 'innocent' about you, Ayaka." Gaara said bluntly. Ayaka smirked, throwing her arm around his shoulders.

"Thanks, Panda-kun, that means a lot." She said dramatically. Gaara sighed and shrugged off her arm.

They finished their meal with mundane conversation and then paid, before walking out of the cafe.

"Is my old room still open?" Ayaka asked, looking at the siblings.

"Yep, still the same as it was six years ago." Temari nodded. Ayaka smiled in relief.

"Good, no need to go back to the Takahashi compound and drag up old memories." She said. The siblings nodded.

Once they got to the Kazekage Mansion, Temari threw open the doors with a dramatic flourish.

"Welcome home, Ayaka." She said. Ayaka grinned, looking around the familiar house.

"It's good to be back."

...

It was well past midnight, and as always, Gaara sat on the roof, unable to sleep.

He sighed, raking his hand through his hair. He felt anxious and confused.

His anxiety was due to the trip to Konoha that would take place the next day. He hadn't left the village in a while and he was worried about what might happen while he was gone.

And as for his confusion, Ayaka and the Shukaku were to blame. Well, mostly the damned demon.

'**What's the matter, runt? Can't figure out your own emotions?**' Speak of the devil... er, demon.

'_I still have no idea what the hell you're talking about!' _Gaara mentally yelled, clenching his fists.

'**Poor, naive child. Can't you tell when you're...**' The Shukaku was cut off.

"Hey, Panda-kun." Gaara nearly jumped out of his skin, turning to look at Ayaka, who had just sat down beside him. Her hair was in a messy bun and she wore loose black sweatpants and a tight yellow tank top.

"What are you doing up?" Gaara asked, watching her curiously. She shrugged, looking up at the moon. Gaara noticed the dark circles under her eyes and frowned.

"Couldn't sleep. To be honest, I've become something of an insomniac myself, over the years. I can usually sleep, but it takes forever to fall asleep and then I can only sleep for two or three hours at the most." Ayaka explained, rubbing her eyes. Gaara winced in sympathy. He wouldn't wish the sleepless hell he was cursed with on anyone... well, none of his friends, anyway.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. Ayaka smiled softly, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Panda-kun. Don't apologize." She whispered, closing her eyes and shivering a bit. Gaara put his arm around her shoulders, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

They were silent for a long time, until Gaara heard Ayaka's breathing grow deep and even, telling him she was asleep.

...

Ayaka woke up to someone knocking on her door and early morning sunlight filtering through her red curtains.

"Ayaka, we have to be at the gate in half an hour!" Temari called. Ayaka made an unintelligible noise and rolled out of bed. She took a quick shower and then busied herself brushing out her hair and brushing her teeth.

'_I guess I fell asleep on the roof.' _She mused, pulling on black pants, a loose black shirt that just reached a few inches above her bellybutton with the white kanji for tranquillity on the front and netted arm warmers that went from her elbows to her wrists.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder and slid down the banister, landing in a crouch at the foot of the stairs.

"Yo!" She greeted Temari, Kankuro and Gaara as she entered the kitchen. The siblings gave greetings of their own as Ayaka searched through the fridge, and then sat at the table with an apple.

"Are you ready?" Temari asked. Ayaka nodded energetically, her face lighting up.

"I think you're a little over-excited, Ayaka." Gaara noted. Ayaka shrugged.

"Well I think you're a little under-excited. So there." She countered with a grin. Gaara rolled his eyes.

"All right, let's go." Kankuro said, standing. They all stood and walked out of the mansion and through the still-shadowed streets of Suna. Gaara adjusted his gourd and sighed.

'_I hope this goes well..._'

...

Two shadowed figures stood looking down at the three children in front of them.

"You'll do well not to fail this mission." The one on the left said gruffly. The three genin nodded.

"Remember, we need the one-tail alive, but the spy is fair game." The other reminded, his tone lighter.

"Also, you are posing as genin, so don't use the full extent of your abilities until it's absolutely necessary."The first man commanded.

"Hai!" The three children nodded in unison and ran off toward Konoha. The second man grinned.

"Looks like everything is going according to plan."

**Feel free to send in OCs for the three ninja who are posing as genin (or any other OCs you feel like sending in), since I didn't give them any description. **

**Yoshino Utikate belongs to Spartan237.**

**Kaori Jurou and Mayu belong to rachel the gleek.**

**Thank you to all who sent in OCs. I love you all... in a totally not creepy way. ^_^**

**We'll meet the Leaf genin in the next two or three chapters. **

**Side Note: The foods that the Sand Siblings ordered are their favourite foods, I looked it up on Narutopedia. As for Ayaka's stir-fry dish, that's just what I had for dinner the night I was writing that scene. :P **


	5. Sand, Stone, Leaf and Shadows

**So, a little slow again, but I had a little trouble writing, especially because I had to take a 5 day break to study for exams. But now it is done.**

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sama owns Naruto. I just own my OCs.**

Chapter Five

Sand, Stone, Leaf and Shadows

**Three Days Later**

"WE MADE IT! YES!" Ayaka yelled as they entered the gates of Konoha. Izumo and Kotetsu looked at each other, amused.

"Hello." Gaara greeted them, handing over a stack of travel papers.

"Hello, Kazekage-sama. Here for the Chunin Exams?" Kotetsu asked, as he and his partner flipped through the papers

"Yes, we are." Gaara nodded. Izumo looked at the nine genin.

"This is the most genin we've ever had from Suna at once." He mused, stamping the travel papers and handing them back to Gaara.

"Thank you." Gaara said to them before turning to his companions. "Temari, Kankuro and I have to go visit the Hokage. You can all go explore the village, as long as you stay in your teams and keep your travel papers on you. Try not to get into trouble... That goes double for you, Ayaka." He said, handing the travel papers to their respective persons and then leaving with Temari and Kankuro

The teams dispersed until Ayaka stood alone, looking around. With a shrug she headed down a random street. The village was busy that day, bustling with civilians and ninja.

'_Hm, I'm kind of hungry..._' Ayaka thought, looking down the street she was on. On the end of the street she saw a small ramen stand and decided to check it out.

She walked in and perched on a stool, smiling at the middle aged man behind the counter. She noticed three people sitting two stools away, but took no more notice than that.

"Hello there, I'm Teuchi. I haven't seen you here before." The man greeted her with a grin. Ayaka's smile grew.

"Ayaka Takahashi. I'm visiting from Suna, for the Chunin Exams." She replied, glancing over the menu. Teuchi nodded in understanding.

"So, what can I get you?" He asked. Ayaka thought for a moment and handed him the menu.

"Barbeque Pork Ramen, please." She said. Teuchi nodded and set the work.

"Hey, did you say you're from Suna?" Ayaka blinked and turned to look at the blond who sat two stools away. He had bright blue eyes and wild hair, he wore orange pants, a black and orange jacket and had his headband tied around his forehead.

"Uh... Yeah..." Ayaka said, her gaze flicking over the two people sitting with the blond. A pink haired girl with emerald eyes and a boy with black hair and black eyes.

'_Must be an Uchiha..._' She thought, looking away when his dark eyes met hers.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" The blond announced with a grin. Ayaka smiled, holding back a laugh.

"I'm Sakura Haruno." The pink haired girl smiled and gave Ayaka a small wave.

"Sasuke Uchiha." The dark eyed boy grumbled. Ayaka nodded subconsciously.

'_Just as I thought._' She mused to herself. She smiled again when she felt their eyes on her.

"I'm Ayaka Takahashi. Nice to meet you all." She chirped, avoiding looking at the Uchiha as much as possible. Something about his eyes unnerved her.

"As in the Takahashi Clan? I thought that clan was extinct." Sasuke commented. Ayaka smirked, finally meeting Sasuke's gaze.

"Funny. I thought the same about the Uchihas." She sneered. Sasuke scowled and turned away.

'_Hmph. Looks like I hit a sore spot._' Ayaka thought, watching Sasuke for another moment before looking at Naruto. Something about his chakra flow both bothered her and intrigued her. It reminded her of Gaara's chakra, mixed with the Shukaku's.

"Here you go." Teuchi said, putting a bowl of ramen in front of Ayaka.

"Thanks!" She smiled at him and grabbed a pair of chopsticks.

"So, you're here for the Chunin exams? Are you a Genin?" Sakura asked, curiously. Ayaka laughed.

"Oh, no. I'm a Jonin." She said.

"So you're a sensei?" Naruto asked, slightly confused. Ayaka shook her head.

"Wrong again. I'm guarding the Kazekage." She said. Naruto grinned.

"You know Gaara?" He asked. Ayaka smiled, her eyes going slightly distant.

"He's my best friend."

**With Team Six**

"Wow, it's so different here..." Manabu murmured, looking around.

"No kidding." Yoshino agreed. They were walking through a park, enjoying the cool shadows of the trees and the fresh, clean smell. Aeri stayed silent, brushing her palm against the rough bark of the trees.

"I wonder how tough our opponents in the Chunin Exams will be..." Manabu mused, adjusting his glasses. Yoshino shrugged.

"It won't be anything we can't handle." He assured. Manabu glanced at the masked boy and nodded.

"Hopefully." He agreed. Without warning, Aeri took out a scroll and a moment later a long white staff was in her hand. She spun the weapon around just in time to deflect several kunai.

Yoshino took a large shuriken from his back while Manabu unsheathed twin katanas. The three genin stood still, their backs pressed against each other, scanning the forest and straining to hear even the tiniest noise.

"Pretty good for a bunch of brats." A sneering male voice hissed. Aeri signalled her teammates, pointing above and to the right. The two boys nodded in acknowledgement.

"Who is there?" Yoshino spoke up after a tense silence. A few snickers came from the forest around them.

"Two males and a female, surrounding us in the trees." Aeri whispered. Manabu nodded, his eyes glazing over slightly. Aeri could imagine the gears spinning in his brain.

"Show yourselves." Yoshino demanded, becoming annoyed with the silence. To the Sand Genins' surprise, three people around their age landed in front of them. Manabu eyed the girl who stood in front of him.

"Iwagakure ninja." He hissed to his teammates. The kunoichi nodded, smirking at the younger boy. She had short black hair and cold slate grey eyes.

"What do you want?" Yoshino asked, his eyes narrowing behind his mask. The male ninja he was facing grinned widely, he had brown hair and orange eyes.

"We're just thinning out the Genin. Wouldn't want too much competition in the Exams." He said. The Sand Genin stiffened.

"Cowardly..." Aeri murmured under her breath. The ninja she faced, a boy with black hair and brown eyes, scowled and took out a long sword, the tip of the blade brushing Aeri's neck.

"What was that?" He asked angrily. Aeri sighed inwardly. She could have attacked the boy with her staff, because he was provoking her, but she choose not to.

'_How typical, I get the one with a temper..._' She thought drily. "Cowardly." She repeated, a little louder, her voice colourless.

"You little..." The boy holding the sword was cut off by the girl of their team.

"Hachiro, cut that out." She hissed, glaring at the boy, Hachiro.

"Sorry, Etsuko..." Hachiro mumbled, rolling his eyes slightly.

"Would you mind removing your blade from our teammate's throat?" Yoshino asked, glancing briefly over his shoulder at Hachiro, who made no move to put his sword away.

"Why should I?" He asked, raising his eyebrows in challenge. A moment later he was on the ground, Aeri's foot planted firmly on his chest, a blade on the end of her staff pressed to his jugular.

"I tried to ask you nicely." Yoshino said with a shrug. Hachiro growled, fuming, and grabbed Aeri's ankle, throwing her into a tree, which cracked on her impact. Manabu winced and took a step toward Aeri, glancing at Yoshino, who shook his head, grinding his teeth together angrily.

'_Aeri will be fine, she's stronger than she looks. If we get distracted, we'll end up dead_.' He thought, glaring at the brunette who stood in front of him. Etsuko sighed.

"I was hoping we could just scare them off, but I guess we have to get rid of them the old fashion way." She said, watching Aeri haul herself up before taking out a few kunai. Suddenly she doubled over... laughing. Manabu and Yoshino exchanged a vexed glance as she fell to the ground, laughing harder.

"What the hell?" Hachiro grunted, pausing just before punching Aeri, who was leaning against the tree she had been thrown into. The blind girl blinked and ducked away from his fist, running over to rejoin her team.

"Are you okay, Aeri?" Manabu murmured to Aeri as Hachiro and the other boy watched Etsuko in confusion. Aeri nodded, waving off the question and tensing, her gaze locked on the other side of the clearing.

Three teens walked into the clearing, led by a redheaded girl with red eyes. She was about twelve and 4 foot 9. She wore an outfit similar to Tenten's but the shirt was red and had long sleeves with a black dragon going up the side. She had a slight air of authority.

The girl behind her had white hair pulled into a high ponytail and icy blue eyes. She looked to be the same age as the first girl and about an inch shorter. She wore tight black clothes and a black headband around her waist.

The last teen was a grinning boy with black hair in cornrows and glowing pink eyes (which confused the Sand Genin). He also looked about twelve and was around 5 foot. He wore a maroon jumpsuit with gold strips down the sides and baby blue sandals.

"Who are you?" The unidentified Stone ninja asked, his orange eyes narrowed to ominous slits.

"Leaf ninja, out for a stroll after training." The redhead answered simply. Hachiro looked up from the still-laughing Etsuko and glared at them.

"Why don't you just leave. This is no fight of yours." He hissed, in what was probably his most menacing tone. The Leaf ninja looked unfazed and unimpressed.

"You're attacking guests of our village. You're making it our fight." The redhead replied calmly. "Daisuke, release the jutsu." She said, as if it were an after thought. The boy, Daisuke, nodded and his eyes faded from bright pink to black. Etsuko stopped laughing and sat up, gasping for breath.

"YOU did that?" She demanded, glaring at Daisuke. He nodded, still grinning.

"Let's just go. We can handle these kids later." The orange eyed boy said, jumping into the trees. Etsuko and Hachiro glared at the Sand and Leaf Genin before following the other boy, leaving the clearing in a tense silence.

"Thank you." Aeri whispered, turning her eyes to the three Konoha Genin. The redhead smiled.

"It was no trouble. I'm Sora Matsuki. This is Mai Kamaya and Daisuke Yagani." She said, gesturing to each of her teammates in turn.

"I'm Yoshino Utikate. This is Manabu Koga and Aeri Kaminari." Yoshino said. All three Sand Genin bowed in unison. Sora and Yoshino then nodded to each other, recognizing the other as the unofficial leader of their respective team.

"So, you guys are competing in the Chunin Exams as well?" Daisuke asked. The three Sand Genin nodded.

"Yes." Manabu said, eyeing the other genin. Sora nodded, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

"Excellent, we look forward to fighting against you." She said. "Until then, goodbye." She gave a small wave before turning and leaving. Daisuke waved enthusiastically before following her, while Mai seemed to ignore their presence.

"They seem very formidable." Aeri said softly. Her teammates nodded.

"Daisuke's jutsu is odd, but could be problematic." Manabu agreed.

"I think that jutsu just scratches the surface of their abilities." Yoshino murmured. "Anyway, we should go back to the hotel, we're probably late." He continued, brushing off the Konoha team for a moment.

"Right." Manabu said. Then the three ran off.

'_Is someone... watching us?_' Aeri thought, tripping over a rock in her distracted state. Yoshino, who was beside her, shot his arm out and caught her just before she hit the ground.

"Aeri, are you alright?" He asked, pulling her up. Aeri stayed silent for a moment.

"... Yes. Fine. Sorry." She said slowly. Yoshino and Manabu exchanged a disbelieving glance.

"Okay... Well, let's go." Manabu said, shrugging. Aeri let out a quiet breath.

'_It seems Manabu and Yoshino didn't notice anything... Am I going insane?_'

...

Three shadowed figures perched in the trees, watching the Sand Genin.

"I believe the blind one can sense our presence." The tallest figure stated. The other two nodded.

"We'll have to watch out for her, although her teammates could also be annoying." The female said.

"And we haven't even seen the other Suna Genin yet. This could be more difficult than we first thought." The shorter male agreed.

"Speaking of which, we should move on to the one-tail's team. Let's go."

And then the shadows disappeared.

**I know this chapter was really Team Six centralized, but the next chapter will focus on the other two Suna teams and will introduce more Konoha Genin.**

**Sora, Mai and Daisuke (Team 13) belong to sco23.**

**Yoshino belongs to Spartan237.**

**Kaori and Mayu belong to rachel the gleek.**

**Thank you to everyone who sent in OCs, and feel free to send in more! :D**

**Reviews make me happy, which means I update faster... Just saying. **


	6. Chasing Away Demons

**Here is the next chapter! YEAH! Introducing new OCs and some foreshadowing. **

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to me. -gets attacked by lawyers- AH! OKAY, I DON'T!**

Chapter Six

Chasing Away Demons

"You're such a pig, Susumu!" Matsuri scolded, glaring at her blond teammate as he stared at two pretty girls that were sitting at a table a few feet from them in the small bakery they had chosen to eat at.

The first girl was about fourteen and 5 foot 5. She was very thin and tan with an athletic build, shoulder-length light brown hair and blue-grey eyes. She wore a white t-shirt and black pants with a blue apron that had the name of the bakery on it.

The other girl looked at least three years younger and about 4 foot 9. She was very pale and slender with long dark brown hair and silvery lavender eyes. She wore a black tank top and black shorts with black ninja shoes. Her arms and legs were wrapped in bandages and a Konoha headband was around her waist.

The two girls were sitting with a boy who looked about thirteen and 5 foot 4. He had long black hair in a braid, hazel eyes, tanned skin and a muscular build. He wore a white shirt and black pants with his headband around his forehead.

"Really, Susumu, you should stop ogling those girls, it looks like their male teammate could kick your ass." Kaito commented. Susumu scowled at his friends.

"You guys have no faith in me." He grumbled. Matsuri giggled.

"Of course we have faith in you. However, that kid DOES look like he could beat you into a bloody pulp." She said. Susumu crossed his arms and began sulking. Kaito and Matsuri exchanged an amused look.

Kaito nearly jumped out of his skin when a pale hand tapped him on the shoulder. All three Suna Genin turned to look at the Konoha team that Susumu had been looking at.

"Are you here for the Chunin Exams?" The girl who had tapped Kaito asked.

"Yes, we are. Who are you?" Susumu asked, seemingly over his sulking.

"I am Hanabi Hyuuga." The pale girl said with a stiff nod. Her emotionless expression creeped the Sand trio out a little.

"Ikari Funnu." The boy said, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't look all that happy to be talking to them.

"Hello! I'm Hanako Tani!" The girl with the apron said with a grin and an energetic wave.

"I'm Matsuri." Matsuri said with a smile. She wanted to be friendly, but the Konoha team unnerved her a bit.

"Kaito Arashi." Kaito murmured distractedly. The younger girl seemed very strong and her eyes were so... blank.

"I'm Susumu." Susumu said, winking at Hanako, who blushed.

"So you're one of the three teams from Suna." Hanabi stated, glancing at their headbands. Matsuri nodded.

"Yes, we just got here a few hours ago. Your village is very nice." She said before Susumu could say something perverted.

"We could show you around!" Hanako said with a grin. Neither of her teammates looked even half as enthusiastic as she was, but she didn't notice.

"Um... That would be great." Matsuri answered, settling her gaze on the bubbly brunette. Kaito nodded while Susumu gave Hanako another wink, and earning an elbow to the ribs from Matsuri for it.

"Great! Come on!" Hanako grinned, pulling off her apron and disappearing into a back room for a moment. When she came back she had bandages covering her chest under a loose black vest and black pants with her headband tied around her forehead.

The six genin walked out of the bakery and down the street while Hanako pointed things out and twittered excitedly.

"And the training grounds are over there." Hanako explained, waving to the right of the road they were on. Suddenly Hanabi stopped and turned to face the trees.

"Hello, Neji." She said. Right on cue a tall boy, or rather, man with white eyes and long dark brown hair walked out of the trees with a man in green spandex and a woman with Chinese style buns.

"Hello, Hanabi." The man replied with a nod while sweeping his gaze over the six genin.

"That's Neji Hyuuga, Hanabi's cousin. He's a Jonin. The other two are his teammates, Rock Lee and Tenten, both Chunin." Hanako explained quietly to the Suna team.

"I assume you're here for the Chunin Exams." Neji said, looking at Matsuri, Kaito and Susumu.

"Yes. We are." Kaito replied, meeting Neji's eyes calmly.

"Such youthful children!" Lee exclaimed, striking the 'nice guy' pose and grinning, blinding the genin.

"Whoa..." Susumu murmured, rubbing his eyes. Tenten's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Lee..." She sighed, face palming and dragging him away. Neji watched them go and then looked back at the genin.

"Good luck in the exams. You'll need it." He said, then turned and followed his teammates.

"That was... odd." Matsuri commented with a frown. Hanabi looked at the Sand Genin.

"Neji is going to be proctoring the final rounds of the Chunin Exams, along with Sasuke Uchiha." She stated calmly. Matsuri, Kaito and Susumu exchanged a glance.

"This will be interesting." Susumu quipped with a grin, receiving a punch to the head from Matsuri.

...

"They don't look like much of a threat." A hooded figure sneered as the three figures watched Team Three. The tallest shadow turned to glare at the one who had spoken.

"Do not underestimate them. The were mentored by the one-tails." He said harshly. The shorter male scoffed slightly and crossed his arms.

"Come on, we still need to check out the other Sand team and that ANBU girl." The female said impatiently.

"Fine. Can we _check out_ the ANBU girl first?" The shorter male asked.

"Ew, you're such a perv..." The girl groaned. The taller boy held up his hand for silence and turned to look further into the forest.

"Who goes there?" He asked, growling slightly. All three figures were slightly surprised when Neji, Tenten and Lee appeared in front of them.

"We should be asking YOU that." Tenten said with a frown. The three hooded 'genin' stiffened.

"Why were you spying on those genin?" Neji asked, calm as ever.

"None of your business." The shorter male said.

"That is a most unyouthful answer!" Lee blurted, earning a punch to the head from Tenten.

"Enough of this, we have work to do." The taller male grunted. The other two nodded and then the three melted into the shadows and disappeared.

**With Gaara, Temari and Kankuro**

The sand siblings walked out of the Hokage's office after what felt like years to Gaara.

"We should head to our hotel, our teams will be getting there soon." Temari said, glancing at a clock as they passed it. Gaara sighed.

"You two go, I'll find Ayaka." He frowned. Temari and Kankuro smirked.

"Just because she..." Kankuro began. Gaara held up a hand, silencing him.

"We all know she's gotten herself distracted and that she'll be back far too late if I don't find her now." Gaara said. Temari and Kankuro exchanged a glance and both smirked.

"Well... Yeah." They agreed in unison. Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Behave." He growled lightly with a slight smile. His siblings just grinned as he disappeared in a swirl of sand.

**With Ayaka**

"You vandalized the HOKAGE MONUMENT?" Ayaka yelled, laughing as Naruto grinned proudly. Sakura smacked him upside the head with a growl.

"That's not something to be proud of, knucklehead!" She stated. Naruto's grin turned sheepish.

"Sorry, Sakura..." He said, rubbing the back of his head. Ayaka snickered slightly.

"I think it's pretty damn impressive. You're now my idol, Naruto!" She exclaimed, causing Sakura to facepalm. Naruto blushed slightly, grinning.

"Hey! Who's the hot new chick?" A loud voice called. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Ayaka turned to see Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata walking toward them.

"Am I the 'new hot chick'?" Ayaka asked, raising her eyebrows. Kiba nodded enthusiastically. Ayaka smirked and looked at each member of Team 10 in turn.

"Dude..." She said suddenly, walking over to stand (far to close) to Shino and stood on her tip-toes, peering curiously at his sunglasses. "An Aburame?" She pauses as Shino nodded slowly.

"Yes..." He murmured, leaning back slightly. Ayaka beamed.

"That is so cool!" She cooed. Everyone blinked, even Shino was surprised by her reaction.

"... Cool...?" All three members of Team 10 asked in unison. Ayaka nodded.

"So cool! You can control kikachu, right? And they can break down poisons, right?" She babbled in a slightly fan-girly way.

"Uh... Yes..." Shino replied slowly.

"So. Cool." Ayaka repeated, backing away from Shino with a grin. "OH MY KAMI A GIANT DOG!" She then yelled, bouncing over to Akamaru and petting him.

"She has more mood swings than Sakura." Sasuke murmured to Naruto, who chuckled, giving the oblivious Sakura a cautious glance.

"Yeah, she does." He agreed with a grin. Someone sighed behind them.

"Ayaka..." A monotonous voice said. Naruto recognized it immediately.

"Gaara!" The blond yelled, turning to said redhead.

"Hello, Naruto." Gaara greeted. "Sasuke, Sakura, Shino, Hinata, Kiba." He continued, nodding to each person in turn.

"Hey Panda-kun!" Ayaka said, waving enthusiastically at Gaara.

"It's getting late. " Gaara stated, watching Ayaka warily. Ayaka frowned, walking over to stand in front of him.

"Get that look off your face. I'm sober." She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.

"Thank Kami. I haven't forgotten last time." Gaara replied with a slight smirk. Ayaka's cheeks flushed red.

"It was Kankuro's fault! He's the one who dared me!" She retorted angrily. Naruto and Kiba were laughing loudly behind Ayaka.

"Just stay away from the sake. Come on." Gaara sighed, grabbing Ayaka's elbow. "It was nice to see you all again. We will have to catch up soon." He said, smiling ever-so-slightly at the Leaf ninja.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed with a grin.

"Bye!" Ayaka grinned before letting Gaara drag her away by her elbow.

"I sincerely hope you made friends and not enemies." Gaara said, smirking slightly. Ayaka stuck her tongue out at him, throwing her arm around his shoulders.

"Well... Uchiha might not be too happy with me... But other than that, all friends." She replied cheekily. Gaara rolled his eyes.

"You're such a child." He muttered. Ayaka grinned, tilting her head so it rested against the side of his head.

"You know you love me." She sneered.

'**Ha, she has no idea.**' Gaara growled under his breath, making Ayaka look at him quizzically.

'_Fuck off, You.' _

'**Hey, I'm just stating a fact.**'

"_WHAT FACT?" _Gaara yelled.

"Gaara? Are you okay?" Ayaka asked, her eyes wide. Gaara stopped walking abruptly, realizing he had spoken out loud.

"I... I'm fine." He said quietly. Ayaka frowned.

"Is the Shukaku giving you trouble?" She asked softly. Gaara smiled slightly.

"You know me all too well." He replied. Ayaka smiled also.

"Don't worry, Panda-kun. I'll chase the big, bad demon away." She murmured, kissing his forehead lightly.

...

"Aw, how cute." The female figure sneered, watching Gaara and Ayaka. The two boys scoffed.

"Hardly. It's not like the ANBU girl actually likes him. He's a demon container." The shorter male said. The girl rolled her eyes.

"So? That Hyuuga girl likes the Uzumaki kid." She retorted. The taller boy growled, silencing the other two.

"Shut up." He commanded. The other two nodded.

"How is it going?" The voice behind them caught them off guard.

"Oh! Sas... Sasara-sama!" The taller boy said with a bow.

"Sasara-sensei." The woman replied, running a hand through her red hair.

"Right, sorry. Things are going according to plan." The taller boy said, slightly nervous. Sasara grinned.

"Excellent. Remember not to strike until the last fight." She reminded.

"Of course, Sasara-sensei. We will not fail you." The female said.

"Good. Now go rest. The Chunin Exams will begin in three days. Do not disappoint us." Sasara said with a final smile before disappearing. All three genin let out a sigh as she disappeared.

"Geez, she gives me the creeps." The shorter male grumbled.

"Of course she does... She's just a puppet."

**I gave some hints to who the leaders of the baddies are, anyone who can guess is free to review/message their guess. If anyone gets it, they will get virtual cake. ^_^**

**Okay, I've planned out all the matches for the Chunin Exams, but, I will still except OCs for the two male fake genin, as they have not been identified (I did put names on my profile, but they are just place holders, although you can use their names if you want).**

**Hanako Tani belongs to Patissiere1683.**

**Ikari Funnu belongs to RachelWinks (formerly rachel the gleek).**

**And I think those are all the OCs in the chapter.**

**The updates will be coming (even) slower in the coming weeks because I am painting my room this weekend, and I need to start re-writing my old Naruto story.**

**So, see you next time! :D**


	7. Pre Chunin Exam Training Time

**Oh, wow, sorry this took so long. On the bright side, the next chapter marks the beginning of the exams and it will hopefully be out sooner.**

**This chapter is pretty much filler, but we see some character/relationship development, so that's good... right?**

**Disclaimer: No. Just... No.**

Chapter Seven

Pre-chunin Exam Training Time

"GET UP, MAGGOTS! IT'S PRE-CHUNIN EXAM TRAINING TIME!" Ayaka shouted, standing with her arms crossed in the door of a hotel room. Susumu groaned and cursed under his breath. Kaito growled and threw a pillow at Ayaka (which she dodged) and Matsuri moaned and burrowed under her comforter.

"Meet your senseis and I in the lobby in twenty minutes." Ayaka sang, throwing the door shut and skipping to the next room.

"GET UP, MAGGOTS! IT'S PRE-CHUNIN..." Ayaka shouted again, throwing open the door of the room and blinking in surprise. Manabu sat on a chair in the corner, reading. Yoshino was adjusting the dark plate shoulder pad on his right shoulder, having already put on his mask. And Aeri was just walking out of the bathroom, drying her long hair with a white hotel towel.

"Oh... Um... Meet the senseis and I in the lobby in twenty minutes..." Ayaka said, slowly closing the door. "It's six in the morning! When did they wake up?" She grumbled to herself, walking to the next door and grinning before bursting through the door.

"GET UP MAGGOTS! IT'S PRE-CHUNIN EXAM TRAINING TIME!" She yelled, pleased with the reactions she got. Kenta sighed and tried to untangle himself from his sheets, falling out of bed in the process. Kaori sat up and, upon seeing Kenta, burst out laughing. Mayu yawned and rubbed her eyes, blinking groggily at Kenta, Kaori and Ayaka.

"Meet the senseis and I in the lobby in twenty minutes!" Ayaka chirped, shutting the door and skipping down the hall. Suddenly a door opened down the hall and a head popped out.

"Hey, Miss?" The man called, sounding angry. Ayaka spun on her heel and crossed her arms, taking a offensive stance.

"What?" She asked, raising her eyebrows in challenge. The man paused and thought for a moment.

"... Nothing..." He grunted, frowning and shutting the door. Ayaka smirked smugly and continued down the hall and then into the stairwell. She looked down the centre of the spiralling stairs and then shrugged, hopping over the railing and diving feet first down it, grabbing the railing on the lobby floor and flipping up, only to land directly on Gaara, knocking them both to the ground.

"That was quite impressive." Gaara commented, holding back a blush. Ayaka also blushed, caught off-guard.

"WHOA! Guys, you can't just have sex in the stairwell of a hotel, that's what the _rooms_ are for." Kankuro announced as he and Temari appeared in the doorway from the lobby. Ayaka and Gaara both blushed heavily and that. Ayaka rolled off of Gaara, jumped up and punched Kankuro in the face, sending him flying across the lobby.

"SHUT UP, YOU ASS! THAT'S DISGUSTING!" She half screamed, red in the face with a murderous expression. Temari laughed while Kankuro whined about how he thought Ayaka had broken some bones and Gaara tried to calm the fuming Ayaka down.

"What the hell?" Susumu blinked as all the genin walked down the stairs. Temari helped Kankuro up while Gaara kept a restrictive hand on Ayaka's shoulder.

"Nothing." Kankuro said quickly, after receiving two harsh glares from Gaara and Ayaka.

"Shall we go train then?" Kenta asked, the only genin who was blissfully oblivious of the tension in the air.

"Right, let's go!" Ayaka announced, brightening up immediately and running out of the hotel. All three senseis dashed behind her. The genin all paused for a moment before hurrying after there teachers.

"Come on, kiddies!" Ayaka yelled, glancing at the genin over her shoulder as she jumped onto the roof of a building across the road. "Can you keep up?" She grinned and then all four senseis seemed to disappear into thin air.

"... Whoa..." All the genin gasped in unison.

"How are we going to find them now?" Matsuri questioned.

"I can find them." Kenta said. All eyes turned to him, curious. Kenta smiled and bite his thumb, then pressed his palm to the ground. A large cloud of smoke appeared and when it cleared a pure black wolf sat in front of Kenta. "Hello, Ookami!" The wolf bowed his head.

"Hello, Master Kenta. How may I assist you?" Ookami asked, flicking his amber gaze over the group of genin.

"We need to find our senseis." Kenta said, smiling. Ookami nodded.

"Do you have a sample of one of their scents?" He asked. Kenta looked around at the other genin. Kaito reached into his weapons pouch and took out a few black and red hairs.

"When we were fighting Ayaka to see if we could compete in the exam, I accidentally cut off some of her hair, I thought it might come in handy." He said, handing the hair to Kenta, who held them to Ookami's nose.

"This girl smells nice, like jasmine and sandal wood, it shouldn't be hard to find her scent." The wolf said, and then proceeded to sniff the ground. "Found her. Follow me." The wolf glanced back Kenta and then sped off. The group of genin quickly followed, and found their senseis in minutes.

"Good work." Gaara said as the genin entered a large training ground. Ookami walked over to Ayaka and sniffed at her hand. Ayaka seemed amused and ruffled his ears.

"Hey there." She grinned. Ookami seemed just as amused of Ayaka as she was of him.

"Alright, training time. Everyone pick a partner. Whoever doesn't have a partner will go with Ayaka." Temari said, clapping her hands together. Within seconds all the genin had paired up. Kaito and Ayaka, Susumu and Matsuri, Yoshino and Aeri, Manabu and Kenta, Kaori and Mayu.

"Each of you will spar with your partner, as a little practice for the Chunin Exam prelims. Let's have Kaori and Mayu first." Kankuro said. Everyone sat on the edge of the forest, leaving the large clearing to act as a sparring ring.

The first fight ended fairly quickly. At first Kaori seemed to be winning, using a strong offence of taijutsu. But then Mayu used a genjutsu 'Choking Rose Vines' that seemed to make Kaori think they were being suffocated by rose vines.

In the end, Kaori was on the ground, gasping for breath, while Mayu stood a few feet away, smirking at her teammate. Kaori heaved him (her?)self up and glared at Mayu.

"No fair, you know genjutsu is my weakness." They grumbled. Mayu rolled her eyes and threw her arm around Kaori's shoulders.

"That's the point, my dear Kaori." She said, grinning. Kaori just sighed and then returned Mayu's grin.

"Alright, Kenta and Manabu, you two next." Temari said as Mayu and Kaori sat at the edge of the forest.

"I wish you luck, Manabu." Kenta said with a bow, summoning a large scythe from a scroll. Manabu bowed as well, unsheathing his katanas.

"Thanks. Good luck to you too, Kenta." He said. Then he lunged at the taller boy. Kenta used his scythe to block Manabu's sword and then used a lightning jutsu to send a shock through his scythe, into Manabu's swords and then through Manabu himself.

The shock paralysed the shorter boy and Kenta took the chance to ram the base of his scythe into Manabu's stomach, making him fly back into a tree across the clearing. Manabu gave a hacking cough.

"Nice shot." He said, nodding to Kenta and wiping some blood from his lips.

"Thank you." Kenta smiled and helped Manabu to his feet. Manabu doubled over with a fit of coughing.

"Alright, I think this fight is over." He said, straightening and following Kenta to the edge of the trees.

"Well done, you two. Yoshino and Aeri, your turn." Gaara said. The two stood at the same time and walked to the middle of the field. Both teens took out scrolls and summoned weapons. Yoshino summoned a large katana while Aeri summoned her white staff.

"Ninja Art: Oshadishda." Chakra flared around the blade of Yoshino's katana and the masked boy wasted no time in charging at Aeri, his steps near silent, and his speed enhanced greatly by the jutsu he had used. Yoshino's katana met Aeri's staff with a harsh metallic clang, and for a moment they stood still, seeing who would cave first.

After a very long minute, Aeri, who was the weaker of the two, ducked down and to the side. Yoshino was caught off guard and his katana plunged into the ground. Aeri smirked and swung her staff at the backs of his knees. Yoshino flipped out of the way and blocked Aeri's staff with his katana as she aimed for his head. Another battle of strength ensued.

Suddenly the staff snapped in half and Aeri skidded back, landing on the ground with a groan. Before Aeri could move a muscle, Yoshino was beside her, the flat of his katana blade resting gently against her throat.

"I win." Yoshino's tone was light, almost teasing. Aeri smiled slightly and pushed him away before standing.

"You broke my staff." She said quietly, picking up the halves of the staff. Yoshino shrugged.

"We both know you have like twelve of those." He replied. Aeri also shrugged, storing the staff pieces in a scroll.

"Great fight." Ayaka commented as Yoshino and Aeri sat at the edge of the forest. "Yoshi, can I have a word?"

"It's Yoshino. And yeah, sure." Ayaka stood and walked a little ways into the trees, Yoshino following her. When they were about thirty feet from the training clearing Ayaka turned abruptly.

"So, why'd you go so easy on Aeri?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow. Yoshino stiffened slightly.

"Who says I was going easy on her?" He asked slowly. Ayaka rolled her eyes.

"I do. It's pretty obvious. With that jutsu you used, you could have knocked her flat in the first thirty seconds of that fight, but you didn't even use half the force you could have on her.

"She's my teammate. We'd have to pull out of the Chunin Exams if she was injured." Yoshino answered hesitantly. Ayaka smirked and nodded.

"Right. Sure. Whatever you say." She sneered, brushing past Yoshino with a chuckle.

...

Ayaka and Yoshino emerged from the trees just as Matsuri punched Susumu hard in the jaw. Matsuri was yelling something about Susumu being a 'stuck-up sexist prick'.

"I GIVE!" Susumu yelled, jumping behind Ayaka. Matsuri immediately calmed down.

"Okay." She grinned, skipping off to the side of the clearing. Susumu sighed and sat down, rubbing his jaw.

"Ayaka, Kaito, you're up." Gaara said. Ayaka glanced at Kaito and gave him a wink, walking to the centre of the clearing. Kaito frowned and followed her.

"Let's dance, kid." Ayaka grinned. Kaito summoned his huge sword and swung it at Ayaka, who seemed to disappear. She then appeared behind him and wrapped her arm around his torso, pressing his arms to his side and holding a kunai to his jugular vein with a lazy smile. "Caught you." She whispered. Kaito growled, but dropped his sword.

"That was quick." Gaara commented. Ayaka shrugged, releasing Kaito.

"I was feeling lazy. And hungry. Let's go get some ramen." She chirped, looping her arm through Gaara's. The redhead just sighed.

"I see Naruto has gotten to you." He murmured. Ayaka laughed, tugging him toward the trees.

"Oh yes. Now come on!"

...

"She's fast." The female shadow commented.

"And strong." The shorter male agreed.

"Quiet, you two. She's ANBU, what did you expect?" The taller male hissed, watching the Suna ninjas.

"We know, but still... She seems different from normal ANBU." The female said. The taller male growled slightly.

"Don't you know who she _is_? She's the Wind Shadow of Suna. She's a _legend_." He explained, his tone irritated. The other two froze.

"_She is?_" They asked in hushed unison.

"Yes. And I have a feeling we'll have to... snuff her out to complete our mission. She's far too protective of our target." The taller male said. The others nodded.

"It appears so." The shorter male agreed. The female smiled, her teeth reflecting a tiny flash of sunlight.

"We'll have to eliminate her. As soon as possible. For the good of our mission."

**So yeah, not sure what I should say now... Kind of a cliffy, kind of not. **

**Until next time, my pretties. ^_^**


	8. The Terrifying Proctor

**A chapter that is over 3 500 words posted in only three days? IT'S A MIRACLE! ... Actually, it's the entire written exam in one chapter... But whatever.**

**Oh, I have a new poll on my profile, if you want to check it out.**

**Disclaimer: I am not Masashi Kishimoto.**

Chapter Eight

The Terrifying Proctor

"_You fools_! You could have ruined everything!" A redhead woman hissed, looming over the three genin in front of her.

"We're sorry, Sasara-sensei... W-We just..." The taller male faltered, sweat shining on his forehead. Sasara's eyes hardened.

"Forget it. Just don't let it happen again." And with that, the woman disappeared.

...

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

Ayaka groaned, cracking open one eye to glance at the clock.

_3:44 am._

"You've got to be shitting me..." She sighed, rolling over.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

"Panda-kun, get the damn door. I know you aren't sleeping." She said, sitting up and glaring at the redhead, who sat on his bed, reading. Gaara sighed, closed his book, and walked over to the door.

When he opened it Kenta stood there, paler than usual and blood dripping from a wound on his arm. Ayaka appeared at Gaara's shoulder.

"Kenta! What happened?" She asked, eyes wide.

"Three people broke into our room and attacked us. But they seemed confused, one of them said 'She's not here' and then they disappeared." Kenta explained. Ayaka and Gaara shared a glance.

"Where are Mayu and Kaori?" Gaara demanded, brushing past Kenta and walking down the hall.

"They're back in the room. Mayu hit her head pretty bad. Kaori's taking care of her." Kenta explained. Gaara pushed open the door of Kenta's room and he and Ayaka looked around, surprised.

The window was smashed open, and the mattress on Mayu's bed had been shredded by some kind of weapon. Mayu was laying unconscious on Kaori's bed. Kaori was sitting beside her, a hand on the girl's forehead. Several kunai littered the walls and floor of the room.

"Whoa... Someone came to kill." Ayaka whispered, running her palm over the deep gashes in Mayu's mattress

"Yes. But the question is... Who did they come to kill? Who is 'She'?" Gaara mused, walking over to the window and looking out over the city.

"Who knows? But I pity whoever this 'she' is." Ayaka said with a shrug, beginning to collect the kunai and broken glass on the floor.

**The Next Day, 11:30 am**

Gaara stood, flanked by his siblings, watching the three nervous genin teams. They were in front of the Konoha Ninja Academy.

"We wish you all luck in the exam. We have confidence that you are all capable of passing it. Do your best." Gaara said, smiling slightly. Temari and Kankuro nodded in agreement, grinning widely at the teams. Ayaka, who had been perched in a tree a little ways away, flipped down and walked over.

"Remember, Maggots, not everything is as it seems." She winked, beaming wickedly at the genin.

"Alright. Follow us." Gaara said, turning and walking into the Academy. The genin followed their senseis carefully. After a few silent minutes Gaara stopped in front of a classroom on the third floor. "Good luck." He said with a nod. Then he, Kankuro, Temari and Ayaka disappeared.

"Here goes nothing, I guess..." Kenta said, glancing at his companions and then pushing open the door. The room beyond was full of very intimidating-looking people, who all turned to watch them as they slowly filed in.

"Over there." Kaito murmured, waving the others into the back left corner of the room. They all sat on the ground -or, in some cases, leaned against the wall- to survey the competition.

They recognized some people, Sora, Daisuke and Mai as well as Hanabi, Ikari and Hanako from Konoha were near the front of the room, with two other Konoha teams the Suna genin had not met. And also, the Iwagakure ninja, Etsuko, Hachiro and the mysterious boy with the orange eyes.

"Guys... Please say I'm not the only one whose scared out their mind." Matsuri hissed. Kaori, Mayu, and Manabu all murmured agreements. Yoshino, Aeri and Kaito all looked stoic, Kenta just smiled pleasantly and Susumu gave them a cocky smile.

"Nothing bad will happen, unless Susumu opens his big mouth." Kaito sneered. Susumu opened his mouth to talk, but Matsuri slapped her hand over his mouth.

"Don't. Say. A word." She hissed. Susumu glared at her, but said nothing.

"Hey." Sora greeted, approaching the Suna genin with the rest of the Konoha genin.

"Hello." Manabu greeted with a smile. The others gave similar greetings, watching the Leaf genin they didn't know curiously.

"This is Team Fourteen, Konohamaru Sarutobi, Moegi and Udon." Hanako said, gesturing to a group of three genin.

The first one, Konohamaru, was about thirteen and about 4 foot 6. He had spiky dark brown hair and black eyes. And he wore grey-brown pants, a pale green jacket with a dark green strip, and a long scarf with his headband around his forehead.

The only girl in the team, Moegi, was about twelve and 4 foot 2. She had orange hair tied in two large ponytails, black eyes and bright red ovals on her cheeks. She wore a long sleeved light purple shirt under a violet vest, a beige layered skirt and mid-thigh length boots with her headband around her forehead.

The other boy, Udon, was about thirteen and 4 foot 4. He had short dark brown hair, narrow black eyes and glasses. He wore a black jacket, grey pants and his headband around his forehead.

"Yo!" Konohamaru grinned with a wave, his teammates doing the same.

"And this is Team Seventeen, Haruna Inuzuka and her partner, Kanari, Shiori Kagero and Chihiro Azumi." Hanako continued, gesturing to the other unknown genin.

The first girl, Haruna, looked about fourteen, maybe fifteen, and was about 5 foot 4. She had dark brown hair in a waist length ponytail, slitted black eyes and the red triangle tattoos of the Inuzuka clan on her cheeks. She wore a white t-shirt under a purple jacket and black pants. She had Kanari, a small black puppy, in her arms.

The second girl, Shiori, was about thirteen and 4 foot 10. She had straight silver hair that went just past her shoulders and black eyes. She wore a grey tank top with her clan symbol on it (a black star with a line through it) over a fishnet t-shirt, tight black shorts under a blue-grey karate skirt, black arm warmers that went from mid-bicep to wrist, knee-length ninja boots and had her headband around her neck.

The only boy on the team, Chihiro, was thirteen and 5 foot 2. He had spiky florescent orange hair and violet eyes. He wore a lime green shirt under a yellow jacket, navy blue pants and had his headband around his left bicep.

"Hi!" Chihiro said cheerfully. His teammates also greeted the Sand genin.

Then a door at the front of the room opened and a very tall man with a scarred face in a large trench coat walked in, followed by about twenty young chunin sentinels The man stopped in front of a desk at the front of the room and looked out over the genin with a smirk.

"It's time to begin. I am Ibiki Morino, your proctor, and from this moment on... Your worst enemy." The man said. Quiet noises of unrest and nervousness broke out and more than a few people looked ready to bolt.

"Holy shit." Susumu muttered, watching Ibiki warily.

"Listen up, because I'll only say this once. There will be no combat between candidates without the permission of your proctor, and even then, the use of fatal force is strictly forbidden." Ibiki paused and raked his cold glare over the room and then continued, growling slightly, "Anyone who even _thinks_ of messing with me will be disqualified _immediately_. Got it?"

"No fatal force? Way to take the fun out of it." Hachiro said with a chuckle. A few of the chunin sentinels eyed him with amusement, while most (including Ibiki) ignored his comment.

"Now, if we're all ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin Exam. Hand over your paper work, in return you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you are all seated." Ibiki explained calmly. Aeri stood and walked right over to Ibiki, completely unfazed -probably because she couldn't see him.

"Excuse me, sir, but I cannot participate in the written exam." She stated quietly. Ibiki nodded.

"Right, you're the blind girl. Aburame will take you into a separate room and you can do the test orally." Just as Ibiki said this, Shino appeared beside Aeri, who turned her head toward him curiously, hearing the faint buzz of the kikaichu.

"Follow me." Shino murmured, walking out of the room. Aeri followed quickly, and brought her hand to her ear, turning on the tiny radio that rested there.

...

Kaito sat near the back of the room, between Shiori, and Hanabi.

"Everyone, eyes front." Ibiki commanded, picking up a piece of chalk. "There are a few rules you need to be aware of. And I won't answer any questions, so you better pay attention the first time around." Ibiki paused and then began writing on the board. "Rule number one, the test runs on a point reduction system. You will all start with a perfect score of ten points. You will lose one point for every question you get wrong."

'_So if I got two questions wrong, my total score would be eight..._' Kaito mused, nodding to himself.

"Rule number two, teams will pass or fail based on the total score of all three members." Ibiki continued. Several quiet gasps and groans could be heard, along with nervous muttering.

'_So even if I get perfect, we can still fail if Susumu or Matsuri do badly._' Kaito frowned. Once Ibiki was sure no one would yell at him, he continued.

"Rule number three, the sentinels positioned around the room are there to watch you closely, and make sure you aren't cheating. And for every incident they spot, they'll subtract two points from your score." Ibiki paused, smirking, as most of the genin looked around the room and more murmurs of unrest were hear. "Be warned, their eyes are very sharp, and if they catch you cheating five times, your team will be disqualified before the tests are even marked."

'_Good thing none of us will need to cheat, and if we have to... Well, let's just hope we don't have to.' _Kaito thought, scowling at Ibiki.

"Anyone fool enough to be caught by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here. If you want to be considered Shinobi... then show us what exceptional Shinobi you can be." Ibiki said, his smirk widening marginally. Kaito's eyes widened.

'_Wait... He __**wants**__ us to cheat! That must be the real point of this test!_' He realized, sitting back with a slightly smug smirk.

"And one last thing. If even one person receives a zero of ten, the entire team fails." Several people made loud sounds of protest, but Ibiki silenced them with a glare. "The final question will be given out fifteen minutes before the end of the exam. You will have one hour... Begin!" Everyone turned over their tests. Kaito scanned over the questions quickly, smirking to himself.

'_Simple. Matsuri won't have a problem with this... Hopefully Susumu will do fine too.' _He thought, quickly writing in the answer to the first question.

...

Kenta sat at the front of the room, at the far left end of the bench beside a girl from Amegakure with black hair and yellow eyes named Lylith.

'_I can't even begin to understand these questions, let alone answer them..._' He mused, not very bothered by it. He sat back, skimming the questions in an expectant manner. A few minutes later roses begin twisting around his legs, and the classroom fell away, leaving only Kenta, the desk where he sat, his test, and Mayu, standing in front of his desk.

"Listen carefully, Kenta." Mayu said. Kenta smiled and picked up his pencil.

...

Aeri sat at a table across from Shino in a small room across the hall from the main exam room. She listened carefully as the Aburame shuffled some papers and she heard the slight scratching of his pencil. Shino had just explained the rules to her, and was now preparing to begin the test.

"Are you ready?" Shino asked quietly.

"Yes." Aeri said with a nod.

"Alright. Here's the first question. Ninja A throws a shuriken at Ninja B, who is situated at the top of a seven foot tall tree. Ninja B is twelve meters from the base of the tree. If Ninja A throws the shuriken in a straight diagonal line at Ninja B, how far must they throw it, and what is the trajectory they must use. Explain your reasoning. Then there are three other points where Ninja A is with the same questions." Shino told her. Aeri thought for a moment and smirked.

"The diagonal distance is 13.8 feet, which is proven by the Pythagorean Theorem, which states that..."

...

"... in any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (the two sides that meet at a right angle). In other words, A squared plus B squared equals C squared. In this case..." Yoshino smirked under his mask as Aeri's voice rang clearly through the small radio in his ear and copied down what she said.

'_Thank god I have Aeri.' _He thought, glancing at Manabu, who was a few rows ahead of him, and, as Yoshino had expected, was already done the exam. '_That kid is a damn genius_... _They both are. Makes me feel kind of stupid._'

"... this diagonal is 50.48 feet, which is obviously also proven by..."

...

Hanabi's fingers twitched slightly manipulating thin chakra strings, which were attached to a series of mirrors on the ceiling. She already had all the answers, thanks to her byakugan, now she just needed to get them to her team. The mirror trick is something Tenten had told her about.

'_There, Hanako can see Mai's sheet.' _Hanabi noted, watching Hanako with her byakugan as she began writing down the answers. Once her female teammate was done, she adjusted the mirrors, watching to see when Ikari could see someone's sheet.

'_Excellent. We'll be done with half an hour to spare.'_ She thought when Ikari began writing. '_Now to wait_.'

...

Chihiro sat at his desk, between Matsuri and Daisuke. He glanced around the room, noting that Haruna had Kanari on her head, scoping out answers for her owner. Shiori, who was the most intelligent on their team, had completed her exam, and was secretly doing hand signs under her desk. Chihiro smiled and looked at his paper as shadows appeared, morphing into a complete copy of Shiori's test.

'_Thanks, Shiori, now I just need to trace over the shadows!' _His smile widened and he began writing.

...

Daisuke was panicking. There were only ten minutes left until the tenth question was to be given out. Then he noticed it. Shadows were crawling onto Chihiro's page, forming the answers.

'_It can't be that easy..._' He thought hesitantly. But in the end, he began stealthily copying the answers anyway.

...

Konohamaru sat at his desk, bored out of his mind. He had managed to trick Naruto into telling them about the Chunin Exams a while back, so his team knew they didn't have to pass the written exam to pass the actual exam.

Suddenly a kunai whizzed past Konohamaru, wedging itself in the desk of the person behind him.

"Five times and you're out." A sentinel who looked suspiciously like Kiba said with a smirk.

"What? But I didn't..." The boy was dragged out before he could finish.

"Number 43, fail! Number 28, fail! Number 61, fail!"

And a few minutes later, "Number 97, fail! Number 164, fail! Number 203, fail!"

...

One of the Amegakure genin, a boy with long bright blue hair in a low ponytail and grey eyes named Yuudai sat at the back of the room, his fingers tapping on the table in an irregular rhythm. It looked like he was just bored, but really he was controlling his teammates, like puppets.

'_How befitting of them..._" He smirked and continued his finger tapping.

...

Etsuko glanced at Nikko, the orange eyed Iwa genin and noted he was done the test. Hachiro, however, was not.

'_Idiot..._' She sighed, doing a few hand signs.

...

'_You're such an idiot. Grab your pencil and get writing, the tenth question is going to be given out in five minutes._' Hachiro was only slightly surprised to hear Etsuko's voice in his head.

'_Damn thought projection jutsu..._' He frowned, grabbing his pencil.

'_I heard that_.' Etsuko's voice growled in his head.

'_Good_.' Hachiro smirked.

'_Do you want my help or not?_' Etsuko demanded impatiently. Hachiro sighed.

'_... Fine_.'

...

Ibiki smirked, scanning the rows of genin. An astounding two hundred and twenty-five genin, in seventy-five teams, had showed up for the exam that year. Ibiki had managed to weed out twenty-three teams so far, and only one hundred and fifty-six genin remained.

'_Anko will hold it over my head for the rest of my life if I let more than one hundred and twenty-five pass, and that's pushing it._' Ibiki thought, frowning. He looked at the clock and then smirked.

'_Now that we've weeded out most of the hopeless cases... Fifteen minutes to go. Time for the main event._' He thought. Just then, Shino led Aeri into the room and had her sit in an empty seat beside a Amegakure genin with ash blond hair and pale grey eyes named Kage Shimizu.

"Alright, listen up! Here's the tenth and final question." Ibiki yelled. Kaito rolled his eyes.

'_Man, this guy is full of himself_.' He thought, watching Ibiki with a slight smirk.

"But... Before I give you the tenth question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of. These rules are unique to question ten. So listen carefully, and try not to let them frighten you." Ibiki said, giving the genin a chilling glare.

'_He's laying it on a little thick, isn't he?_' Hanabi thought, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

"Very well then. Rule number one, each of you are free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision." Ibiki continued, putting on a grave face.

'_What the hell?_' Mai thought, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"So, what's the catch?" Aeri asked quietly, calm as ever.

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your other answers, you will get a zero. Which means you fail, and of course, both your teammates fail too." Ibiki smirked as people began talking amongst themselves.

"Of course no one will choose to fail..." Konohamaru said, but he sounded pretty nervous.

"Not so fast. You didn't let me finish..." Ibiki paused, closing his eyes. "If you choose to except the question, but you get it wrong... Not only do you fail, but you are also barred from taking the Chunin Exams _**ever again**_." Ibiki barked the last words.

"Dude, that's bull! There are plenty of people here who have taken the test before!" Ikari exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Ibiki. Ibiki chuckled in a slightly psychotic way.

"This guy is insane." Kaori deadpanned.

"I guess you're just... Unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before. But I am now. Of course, if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you aren't feeling confident, then by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year." Ibiki finished and chuckled again.

"Now then, if you're ready... The tenth and final question. Those who don't want to take it, raise your hand. Your number will be recorded and then you will be free to go." Ibiki smirked. Several hands went up. Then a few more. Ibiki nodded contently.

'_There, one hundred and twenty left. A little more than half of what we started with_.' He thought.

"This decision is one that could change your life. If for any reason, you would rather quit, now is your last chance." Ibiki said. Manabu looked around at the Suna genin with a quiet laugh.

'_No way you'll get any of us to quit, we're all way too stubborn..._' He mused with a smile. Konohamaru scowled.

"I'll never quit! Because I'm going to become Hokage, just like Naruto!" He yelled, banging his fist on the table. Ibiki nearly burst out laughing, remembering Naruto's first year in the Chunin Exams, and how he had given a similar speech. And just like with Naruto, Konohamaru's little speech seemed to harden the resolve of the other candidates.

'Anko will probably still say I let too many pass, but I don't see anyone else wavering. Looks like this is it.' Ibiki thought, glancing at the sentinels. Several of them nodded to him. Ibiki nodded back.

"Well then, I admire your determination, if nothing else. For those of you remaining, there's only one thing left to do... And that's for me to tell you... That you've all passed the first exam."

**So, not much Ayaka or Gaara in this chapter, but I wanted to get through the first stage of the exam. There will be more of them next chapter.**

**Hope you enjoyed the first stage of the exam! :D**

**Thanks to everyone who sent in OCs. I really appreciate it! ^_^**

**Haruna Inuzuka belongs to glitterthorn.**

**Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Kage Shimizu and Shiori Kagero belong to Pop'n'Lock7 (my OC buddy ^_^).**

**Lylith belongs to .**

**Chihiro Azumi, Etsuko, Hachiro, Nikko and Yuudai belong to me.**

**See past A/Ns for other OC owners.**


	9. Infiltration

**This chapter is mostly Ayaka and Gaara centralized (with a splash of Anko, because she's AWESOME).**

**Sorry, this chapter was supposed to be out like March 21, but FF was being a bitch and wouldn't let me update anything Naruto for TWO WEEKS! But I'm back now, so it's all good. **

Chapter Nine

Infiltration

"I wonder how they're doing..." Ayaka mused, sipping some water. Gaara shrugged.

"Ibiki uses the same spiel every year, they're probably doing fine." Gaara watched at a clock on the wall of the ramen stand. "In fact, they should be moving on to the Forest of Death soon."

"Aren't you even a bit worried? Some psychos broke into Team Four's room last night. And it's not like it's hard to infiltrate the Forest of Death. Orochimaru's done it... I've done it..." Ayaka trailed off, snapping her mouth shut.

"What was that?" Gaara demanded. Ayaka could practically see him raise imaginary eyebrows.

"Nothing... Nothing... I think I'll go talk to Anko after she starts the exam tomorrow." Ayaka said.

"I always found you two remarkably alike." Gaara smirked. Ayaka grinned.

"Thanks, Panda-kun!"

...

"WAIT DO YOU MEAN, WE PASSED? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TENTH QUESTION?" Susumu shouted, standing and glaring at Ibiki. Ibiki grinned widely.

"There never was one! Not a written one at least. In fact, your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question.

"So the other nine questions were a waste of time?" Etsuko demanded, annoyed.

"Not at all, quite the opposite. The first nine questions had an important overriding purpose. To test your ability to gather information under the most adverse circumstances. My objective was to test you not only as individuals, but as a team. And on how well you function as a part of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis, so you could know that everything you did, or failed to do, would directly affect your teammates." Ibiki paused and let that sink in for a moment.

"To see how we would handle the pressure." Yoshino said slowly. Ibiki nodded.

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact, as you may have realized, too difficult for any genin to be expected to solve. I imagine that most of you came to that conclusion, that you'd have to cheat to have any chance of passing. The fact is, the test was designed to encourage cheating, it almost demanded it." Ibiki smirked.

"Of course, it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So I disguised two chunin who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you." Two boys raised their hands, smirking.

"Those who failed at it were eliminated. Better not to cheat than to cheat..." Ibiki was cut off as the window shattered and a giant ball of fabric flew into the room. The fabric unfurled, opening into a banner and revealing a woman.

"HEADS UP, BOYS AND GIRLS! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE CELEBRATING! I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitorashi. Ready for the second test?" Anko paused and then punched the air. "GOOD! LET'S GO! FOLLOW ME!" Anko exclaimed, grinning. Ibiki tore through the banner with a kunai and glared at Anko.

'_She reminds me of Ayaka..._' Matsuri thought, wrinkling her nose.

"You're ten minutes earlier than usual. I didn't even get to explain the tenth question yet." He growled. Anko ignored him, looking around the room.

"Wow, Ibiki, you must be getting soft in your old age, letting one hundred and twenty kids pass!" She said. Ibiki scowled.

"I'm only three years older than you are. And maybe it's a stronger bunch of candidates." He deadpanned. Anko shrugged.

"Sorry, it's your face, makes you look like fifty. And as for them being stronger... They sure don't look it. Trust me, once I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated." She replied. Ibiki's eyes twitched slightly, but he said nothing.

"More than half?" Hanako squeaked. Anko smirked.

"This is gonna be fun..." Anko snickered. "Alright, you Maggots have had it easy so far, but things are going to be different starting first time in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where you're to meet me. _Dismissed_." Anko sneered the last word, a predatory gleam in her eye.

**The Next Morning**

"Whoa... What _is_ this place?" Kaori asked no one in particular, staring at the Forest of Death. Manabu looked around briefly.

"It's the Forest of Death..." He muttered, his brow furrowing.

"The Forest of _what_?" Haruna asked, paling.

"This is the location for the second phase of the exam. It's the 44th battle training zone. But we call it... The Forest of Death." Anko said, standing in front of the large group of genin.

"This whole place totally creeps me out..." Matsuri murmured. Anko grinned.

"It should, they call it the _Forest of Death_." She sneered. "And soon enough, you're going to find out _why_."

"Ayaka is like this lady's _mini-me_!" Susumu hissed, giving Anko a reproachful glare.

"Now, before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you. Just a standard consent form." Anko said, pulling a large stack of paper out of her coat. "Before the test you will all need to read through it and then sign it."

"Well... Why?" Daisuke asked. Anko shrugged.

"Some of you may not come back from this test, and I have to get your consent to that risk. Otherwise it would be my responsibility." Anko finished with a laugh.

"She's more sadistic than Ibiki!" Mayu squeaked. Kaori rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

"Now, I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test. Here, pass these out." Anko paused, handing the stack of paper to Konohamaru. "The first thing you need to know is this test will tax every last one of your survival skills. The 44th battle training zone has forty-four locked entrance gates, rivers, and a forest inside. In the centre is a locked tower, located ten kilometres from each gate. It is within this confined area that you will undergo the survival test. The test consists of an _anything goes battle_ to get your hands on these scrolls." Anko held up a white scroll and a dark blue scroll.

"Both of them?" A Sound ninja asked.

"Yes. You'll be fighting to get both a _Heaven Scroll_ and an _Earth Scroll. _All together, there will be forty teams participating in this exam. Half will be after a Heaven Scroll, and half will be after an Earth Scroll. I'll hand over one scroll to each team, and that's what you'll be vying for." Anko said, holding up both scrolls in one hand.

"So how do we pass?" Yoshino asked.

"To pass your whole team must bring a Heaven and an Earth scroll to the tower." Anko replied.

"That means that, at best, only half of us will pass, maybe more, if other teams aren't able to get the scrolls." Hanabi noted, seeming unfazed.

"No one ever said it would be _easy_. Oh, and one more thing, the test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days. This is designed to be a gruelling test, and I'm sure some of you won't be up to the challenge... Alright, enough of the rules and crap, take your forms and exchange them over there for your scroll." Anko pointed at a small booth with three chunin sitting at a table. "Then go pick a gate and get ready to begin."

...

"I think Matsuri should take the scroll." Kaito said as Team Three waited for the test to begin. Matsuri blinked.

"Why me?" She squeaked.

"Because no one would expect you to have it." Susumu explained, begrudgingly agreeing with Kaito.

"Okay..." Matsuri said, taking their Earth scroll gingerly from Kaito, watching the scroll as if it would bite her.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you." Susumu smirked, his tone teasing. Matsuri stuck her tongue out at him.

"Alright! Heads up you Maggots! The second stage of the Chunin Exam has begun!" Anko yelled.

And then they were off.

...

"Anko!" Ayaka exclaimed, appearing in front of the older woman. Anko grinned widely.

"Ayaka! It's been a long time. Here to infiltrate the forest _again_? What is this, the third time? I thought the creepy redhead was the Kazekage now." She said with a wink. Ayaka blushed.

"He is. I have a bad feeling, I want to check out the forest." She said. Anko sighed.

"Trust me, no one who isn't supposed to be in there is in there." The older woman said, an unusual, somewhat comforting tone lacing her words.

"I'm not worried about who isn't supposed to be in there. I'm worried about who is. Three people tried to kill one of our genin yesterday. They had skill I wouldn't expect from a team of genin, but our team said they sounded young." Ayaka said, leaning toward Anko, whose eyes narrowed.

"You think someone has infiltrated the exam." She growled. Ayaka nodded.

"To be more specific... I think my work followed me home."

...

"She's getting dangerously close to the truth."

"I know, yeah. But she's still taking the bait. She's going right where we want her."

"I'm afraid our team might not be enough to take her down."

"You're right, yeah. Why not just go in ourselves?"

"Normally, I'd disagree, but I'm tired of waiting."

"It's time for action, yeah!"

...

"Did you feel that?" Aeri whispered. Yoshino and Manabu looked at her, shaking their heads.

"What is it, Aeri?" Yoshino asked.

"Three _very_ powerful chakra signatures just entered the forest." Aeri explained. The two boys exchanged a confused glance.

"Are you sure they weren't just another genin team?" Manabu questioned. Aeri shook her head.

"They are way too powerful to be genin. Plus, they aren't together. One of them came from the East, and the other two from the North." She stated.

"How odd... I guess we'll need to keep a good eye out." Yoshino said. "Come on, let's find a scroll and get out of here."

**Around Midnight That Night**

Anko was very surprised, which was saying something. In front of her stood the Kazekage, Gaara, looking half irritated and half worried.

"Have you seen Ayaka?" He asked bluntly. Anko blinked.

"Of course I have. She came by earlier, worrying over some conspiracy. I let her go into the forest to check it out." She told him. Gaara froze.

"When was this?" He demanded. Anko thought briefly.

"At around noon." She answered. Gaara's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"It shouldn't take this long..." He murmured. He then looked at Anko, glad he had grabbed his gourd that morning. "I need to go into the forest. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not at all. Be my guest, as long as you don't mess with the genin candidates." Anko said, gesturing toward the first gate. Gaara nodded and disappeared. He reappeared on top of the tower in the centre of the forest.

'_Might as well make this quick, something doesn't feel right_.' He thought, making eight sand clones.

"Find Ayaka and make sure she's okay." Gaara told the clones. The clones nodded and split up, two going in every direction. Gaara decided to stay by the tower until he was needed.

...

Ayaka looked around, perched on a branch high up in a tree. Something wasn't right, she could feel it.

'_What is the world is going on in this forest?_' She wondered, smiling as the blurred figures of Kenta, Kaori and Mayu flashed by below her. A few minutes later, much to Ayaka's shock, a small white clay bird landed beside her, and promptly exploded, sending her plummeting to the ground. Ayaka took out a kunai and buried it into a tree, slowing, but not halting, her fall.

"Son of a... I knew it..." Ayaka was cut off as she landed on her back on the forest floor. The wind was knocked out of her and she felt several ribs break.

"Looks like we caught a rat. And here I was, hunting for squirrels, yeah." A blond smirked as two men appeared, one on either side of the injured ANBU. Ayaka struggled to sit up, but the blond planted his foot on her stomach, earning a gasp from the girl.

"What the hell... are you doing here... Deidara?"

**-OVERLY DRAMATIC GASP-**

**So our baddies (or one of them, but I'm sure it's easy to guess the other) have been unveiled. And, as expected due to my slightly sadistic tendencies, Ayaka's in danger!**

**To be honest, I wasn't going to have the real baddies come in until way later, but I decided this would be a nice twist. ^_^**


	10. Enigmas

**Is this chapter short and half-assed? Yes. Am I happy about that? No. Am I going to do anything about it? No. **

**Although, really, I am sorry this chapter kind of sucks. But I needed to leave the cliff-hanger I had, and I just couldn't add anything else (okay, I could have added a genin fight scene, but I really don't want this to become too genin centralized).**

****Enigma- a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation; a person or puzzling or contradictory character; a saying, question, picture, etc., with a hidden meaning (a riddle).**

**Disclaimer: BLAH, BLAH, BLAH... I DON'T OWN IT!**

Chapter Ten

Enigmas

"What was that?" Gaara's eyes widened as an explosion rocked the forest. Hundreds of birds took to the sky, avoiding the billowing smoke and falling trees.

'**Trouble. Which means your girlfriend is somewhere nearby.**' Gaara blinked and then growled.

'_I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now Shukaku_. _And also, I have no clue who the fuck you're going on about. Stop being so enigmatic._' He snapped, making his way swiftly and carefully into the forest.

'**Okay, enough, kid. I know you're no THAT stupid. Get your head out of your ass and come to terms with your feelings. Just go save her, idiot.**' The Shukaku growled and then disappeared to wherever he went. Gaara hissed under his breath and sped up.

'_I hope Ayaka's okay..._' He thought, then quickly shook his head. '_Of course she is. This is Ayaka we're talking about. She's practically invincible._'

...

Deidara pivoted his foot, grinding his heel into Ayaka's stomach with a grin.

"You thought you could spy on us and live to tell the tale, yeah? We've come for the one-tails, and your head." He smirked. Ayaka coughed and stabbed a kunai into Deidara's leg, rolled away, and got up slowly, clutching her side.

"I'll _never_ let you touch Gaara." She snarled, straightening up and glaring at the Akatsuki members, whose figures were murky smudges in the dark. The redhead who had been silently observing rolled his eyes.

"As touching as that is, we don't plan on you being around to stop us." He replied impatiently. Ayaka gritted her teeth.

"Impatient as always, Sasori. But I think we all know that none of us will go down without a fight." She commented, her gaze flicking between the two men in front of her. Sasori gave an annoyed scoff and held his arms straight in front of him. With a slight click, hundreds of poisoned senbon flew from his sleeves, all but invisible.

"Oh, _fuck_!" Ayaka exclaimed, diving behind a tree and just barely dodging the flying needles. She pressed her back against the bark, panting.

"What's the matter, yeah? Are you really _that_ useless without your little shadow jutsu? Too bad there are no shadows in the dark." Deidara sneered. Ayaka growled whipping her head to the left, where she thought his voice had come from, but no one was there.

'_He's right... I can't use the Wind of A Thousand Shadows jutsu when it's pitch black like this..._' She looked up, through the canopy of leaves, and at the over-cast sky. '_Even the tiniest sliver of moonlight could do at this point... These bastards __**planned**__ this!_'

"Isn't it ironic? Just a like bit of light, and you would have a chance. But, as you know, there can't be shadows without light. And this darkness... This darkness is all consuming." Sasori's voice reverberated through the forest, soft and almost lulling. Ayaka scowled and squinted into the darkness.

'_Okay, no need to panic. Think, Ayaka. You have a big brain, time to put it to use. You have an enigma to fathom.'_ She closed her eyes. '_Not in front... not to either side... not behind... Above? No... Below? Maybe..._' Her eyes flew open as one of the men materialized in front of her.

"You don't look nearly as scared as you should be, yeah." Deidara asked, curling one of his hands around her neck. Ayaka shuddered as the tongue of the mouth on the palm of his hand grazed her skin.

"Stop tongue raping me." She deadpanned, feeling the tongue rasp across her neck again. She saw the tiniest twinkle as Deidara grinned.

"It's not my fault, I guess they like your taste, yeah." He murmured, chuckling darkly. Ayaka made a face.

"There are no words to explain how disturbing that is." She stated. Deidara chuckled again and leapt back, his hands blurring as he made hand signs. Sasori appeared beside his partner, smirking at the unsuspecting girl.

Ayaka didn't even have time to react before the clay Deidara had smeared on her neck exploded.

...

Another explosion, from around the same place as the last.

'_If Ayaka is there... She could be in trouble.' _Gaara thought. He was only about two kilometres from the explosions now (having covered three kilometres of ground already).

'**IF? Are you stupid? She's obviously there! Come on, runt. That girl is a danger magnet.**' The Shukaku spoke up, emerging from his sulking. What a bother.

'_If I shove a kunai through my ear, and into my brain, would you SHUT UP?' _Gaara could almost see Shukaku roll his eyes and bit back a snarl.

'**No. And you know my sand doesn't allow self-mutilation. Especially the suicidal kind.**'

'_I. Hate. You. So. Fucking. Much.' _

'**Good. Now go save the girl.**'

...

Kaito woke up with a jolt, his silvery hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. Susumu, who had been keeping watch over the team, looked at him, his eyebrows raised.

"What's wrong with you?" He questioned, not looking very alarmed. Kaito ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"Nothing. A nightmare. I'm fine." He muttered, a feeling of enigmatic dread pooling in his stomach. '_What the hell is going on in this forest?' _

"If you say so..." Susumu said with a shrug.

"It's almost time for me to take a watch shift, I'll take over now." Kaito offered. Susumu nodded and was asleep in seconds. Kaito smiled slightly. His teammates were an agitation when they were awake, but asleep, they looked younger, more peaceful. '_They really aren't that bad... All things considered_.

**So yeah, sorry it's short and kind of suckish. I felt guilty for the last cliff-hanger... So I put in another...? No... Wait... Ah, whatever.**

**And before anyone mentions Deidara's slight OOCness, I made him creeperish on purpose (maybe he actually IS in character, I haven't watched Naruto in a while).**

**All OCs belong to their respective owners.**

**Also, two things:**

**1. If you're a fan of random shit comedy-type-stuff (especially Itachi REALLY OOC), check out my collab profile with Alexex, AlexexHazeljvUnite.**

**2. I'm working on a FMA and Criminal Minds cross-over, so keep an eye out for that (not making any promises that it will be out any time soon, though).**


	11. Rain and Pain

**So, yet another chapter below two thousand words. I wish it was longer, but the time has come. THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!**

**Random Fangirl: SASUKE IS GOING TO TAKE HIS SHIRT OFF? **

**NO! -beats off fangirl with a stick- Anyway, ON WITH IT!**

**Itachi: ... So you aren't going to tell us what the 'big moment' is?**

**Nope. ^_^ You'll find out soon. **

Chapter Eleven

Rain and Pain

Gaara arrived at the scene of the explosions just in time to see the broken, headless body of Ayaka disintegrate into sand.

"Damn, I thought it was the real her, yeah." Deidara grumbled, sullenly. Sasori just sighed and looked at Gaara. The One-Tailed Shukaku jinchuriki. Their target.

"Regardless, she did her job as bait. And now we have the One-Tails." The older redhead said, shrugging nonchalantly. "However, we should probably dispose of her indefinitely."

"_You won't be disposing of anything_." Gaara snarled. Sand curled around his tense form and his eyes were mere animalistic slits.

"I'll handle the girl, Sasori-no-danna. You can have the One-Tails, yeah." Deidara said, disappearing at a nod from his partner. Sasori held out his arms, sending a barrage of poisoned senbon at Gaara. Gaara crossed his arms, not reacting at all as his sand blocked all the weapons.

"This should be an interesting fight." Sasori murmured, a slight smirk curling his lips as he took out a puppet scroll.

...

Two explosions went off, one on either side of Ayaka, who was crouched under some tree roots. She hissed slightly and rolled out from under the roots as the whole tree fell.

"There you are, yeah." Deidara grinned, appearing on the trunk of the fallen tree.

"Here I am." Ayaka agreed, backing away slowly. Deidara's grin grew, a predatory glint in his eye. '_I am so screwed_.' Ayaka grimaced. '_I'm going to be killed by a guy who looks like a girl... What a way to go.' _

"It's a shame I have to kill you, you'd be a great Akatsuki member, yeah. And you're hot, which totally helps." Deidara purred, winking. Ayaka made a disgusted face.

"That was very rape-y." She said, still backing away ever so slowly. She glanced at the sky and held back a smirk. A tiny hole in the clouds was drifting toward the moon. '_If I can keep Deidara busy for just a few minutes... I can win.' _

"We both know who will win this battle, but for the fun of it, try to put up a good fight, yeah." Deidara sneered, doing some hand-signs. A giant clay spider began crawling toward Ayaka.

"What the hell... Oh crap!" Ayaka jumped onto a tree branch, watching the spider multiply, growing smaller each time it doubled until hundreds of spiders the size of the palm of her hand were crawling up the trunk of the tree she was on.

"Awesome, aren't they, yeah?" Deidara grinned, doing a few hand-signs. Immediately, about a hundred of the spiders exploded on the trunk of the tree. The blast sent Ayaka flying, and she landed in a heap in the middle of a clearing. Deidara appeared beside here, a twisted smile on his face as more clay spiders crawled over Ayaka's body.

"Is that all you've got, yeah?"

...

Gaara was very angry. Which was a problem, because when he was angry, he fought recklessly. Ayaka had always warned him about that.

'**Geez, kid, we've never fought someone this fast. My sand can hardly keep up**.' The Shukaku hissed. Sasori had taken out a puppet by then, a large contraption that resembled a rhino of sorts. More senbon. More sand. One of them was bound to slip up soon enough.

'_Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not dying here. So you better not fail me now_.' Gaara growled, feeding some sand into the ground. The Shukaku chuckled.

'**I've never thought you were so desperate to live**.'

'_I wasn't, but now I have something to live for_.'

...

'_One minute. I need one minute_.' Ayaka thought, ripping as many of the spiders as she could off of her. One on her leg exploded, burning her calf through her pants, but Ayaka didn't make a sound, throwing the rest of the spiders off of her and flipping back.

"You're just prolonging your death now, yeah." Deidara said smugly. Ayaka backed up a little more, her gaze flicking to the sky so quickly that Deidara didn't even notice.

"I guess I'm just too stubborn... for my own good." She panted, leading the unsuspecting Deidara to the gap in the trees. '_Thirty seconds..._'

"That you are. But it's time for you to die." Deidara said, slipping his hand into the pouch of clay on his hip. Ayaka froze and a slow smile crept over her features. Deidara's brow furrowed.

"What are you..." He trailed off as she started doing hand signs, and -much too late- he looked at the sky, swearing loudly. He turned his gaze back to Ayaka, who, he thought, looked like the devil herself, bathed in moonlight and blood.

"Prepare to meet your shadow, Deidara." She hissed. "Wind Style: Wind of a Thousand Shadows."

Deidara's shadow trembled and fractured, shattering like glass and taking the form of a thousand kunai, while Deidara himself was frozen. He blond man sighed and smiled ruefully.

"I guess I can live with being beaten by such a pretty girl. Besides, I'm sure Sasori will take care of you, little spy." He said, winking. Ayaka frowned and looked away as the shadow weapons began to move at the slight twitch of her index finger, all being pulled toward Deidara.

Much to Ayaka's shameful relief, Deidara hardly made a sound as the shadows plunged into his body.

The worst part about killing was hearing the victim's final scream.

...

"Sand Tsunami." Sand erupted from the ground and formed a giant wave, engulfing Sasori and his puppet.

'**Got him. Now finish him off, find your girlfriend and get. The. Fuck. Out. You don't have enough chakra to continue this fight.**' The Shukaku instructed. Gaara scowled.

'_I know what to do, stop bossing me around._' He retorted as he placed his palms on the sea of sand that surrounded him. "Sand Burial." The ground shook as the sand crushed anything that was unlucky enough to get caught up in it. Then there was a moment of impossible calm. The world seemed to hold it's breath.

"Nice try." Gaara froze and watched the older redhead, who now stood only a few meters in front of him. His puppet was gone, probably splinters in the sand, but Sasori himself looked almost completely untouched. A bit of sand in his hair. A tear in the shoulder of his Akatsuki jacket. That was it.

'**What the HELL have you gotten us into, Brat?**' The Shukaku demanded. Gaara could feel the demon's rage mixing with his own growing frustrations. In the distance, there was a deep roll of thunder, like the low growl of a lion.

"_NOW IS NOT THE TIME!_' Gaara nearly yelled out-loud, gritting his teeth. Sasori gave him a slightly curious look, but seemed to deem whatever the odd demon container was thinking unimportant. Senbon flew from his sleeves, yet again. This time, Gaara wasn't going to be fast enough.

'**We're dead.**' The Shukaku deadpanned. Gaara didn't have time to respond. A pair of arms wound around his torso and tugged him out of the way of the senbon. They landed hard on the ground and rolled a few times. Gaara didn't realize who the mystery person was until they stopped rolling and the person on top of him spoke.

"Giving up so soon, Panda-kun?" Ayaka smirked. She had a long cut on her temple, burns on her back, arms and a bad burn on her calf.

"Ayaka?" Gaara glanced around. "Is Deidara dead?" Ayaka bobbed her head, jumping up and pulling Gaara up with her.

"Yep. Dead as dead can get." She said quietly. At that moment the sky opened up, and rain began pouring down. Gaara swore under his breath.

"As usual, Deidara has underestimated his opponent. I told him it would be the death of him." Sasori commented. He had a new puppet out, who's wooden features seemed to leer at the young Suna pair. Ayaka leaned close to Gaara's ear, panic flashing through her eyes.

"I don't have much left in me. How about you?" She murmured. Gaara just shook his head. "Brilliant..." More thunder cracked, this time closer. A fork of lightning speared the earth not far off.

"Let's make this quick. I hate keeping people waiting." Sasori said impatiently. In a flash, a cloud of senbon was raining down on Gaara and Ayaka, mingling with the sheets of rain.

Another deafening crack of thunder drowned out Ayaka's scream.

...

"Oi! Generic Villain!" Anko yelled as she, Temari, and Kankuro appeared a few feet from Sasori, who was frowning. He sighed, watching the newly-arrived ninjas.

"How annoying. I guess I'll come back for the one-tails." Sasori grumbled. And with that he disappeared. Temari was the first to spot Gaara and Ayaka.

"Are they... dead...?" Kankuro asked, paling as they stood over the younger ninjas. Both teens were unconscious, laying on their sides. At the last moment before the senbon had hit them, Gaara had curled himself around Ayaka, mostly shielding her from the poisoned needles.

"They're alive, but we need to get them to the hospital." Anko said. "Get going. I need to make sure the forest is secure." She said before disappearing. Temari and Kankuro carefully picked up Ayaka and Gaara and sped off.

**The Next Day**

Gaara sat up in a hospital bed with a jolt, instantly regretting the action as pain flared through him.

"Gaara! Thank Kami, you're awake." Ayaka breathed a sigh of relief, hugging Gaara tightly. Gaara winced slightly, but when Ayaka's arms loosened, he held on.

'_She smells like roses... I never really noticed that before_.' He thought, burying his nose in her hair. The Shukaku chuckled, but, for once, decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Gaara? Are you okay...?" Ayaka asked quietly, blushing. Gaara nodded and slowly released Ayaka, his cheeks slightly pink as well.

"Ayaka..." Gaara began, trailing off. Ayaka tilted her head curiously.

"Yes, Panda-kun?" She asked innocently. Gaara surprised her by gently caressing the gash on her temple.

"Would it be... Entirely inappropriate if I... Uh... Kissed you?" Gaara fumbled. Ayaka blinked.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Four agonizing seconds.

"Gaara..." Ayaka cut herself off by pulling Gaara toward her and pressing her lips to his. She pulled away after a few seconds, staying close enough so their noses touched. "Honestly, I thought you'd _never_ ask."

**-GASP- THE MOMENT HAS COME! THEY KISSED! ^_^ So. Fluff. We meet again. How'd you like it? I know, I probably suck at fluff, because my relationship status is literally 'Forever Alone', but I think it could be worse... Right? **

**Anyway, review... Or don't. But I'll love you if you do. :) **


	12. Winning

**First and foremost, the title of this chapter in NO WAY is related to the whole Charlie Sheen 'winning' thing. Seriously. **

**Although this chapter is 'winning' because it's finally over 2000 words! ^_^**

**... I know, I'm lame.**

**Secondly, and very importantly, I have summatives all of next week and half of the week after that, then I have exams, so I probably not (like, 90% chance not) update within the next two weeks. And then I am going on vacation for almost three weeks in July, so if I do not update from June 25-July 8 (ish), then I most likely won't update until the end of July. I'm sorry about that, but it's the way it is.**

**Thirdly, my muse just hasn't been very good lately, so I think I need to work on some other fics. I'd appreciate it if I could have some input from you guys. I currently have a Criminal Minds/Fullmetal Alchemist story in the works and an Avatar: The Last Airbender story in the works. If you'd like to see either of those, you can let me know. Maybe I'll post the first chapters of both and continue the one that gets the most positive feedback... Yeah, I like that plan.**

**Fourthly, on that note, if you guys have any story/one-shot requests, I'd be glad to hear them, I'm not making any promises that I'd do them, but if I know (and like) the fiction it's based on, the characters, and what not, then I'd be happy to give it a shot (if you do send a request, it'd be cool if you give me a small summary of the plot, if you can. Just makes it easier for me).**

**And finally, I'm sorry that this is mostly filler, but I think it's largely the necessary kind of filler. And really, this is the only way this was going to be updated any time soon. Also, sorry for the crappy awkward-as-all-hell kissing scenes. The only thing I know about kissing is from books (and I know what some of you pervy people are thinking. No. I mean kissing scenes in novels. Gosh).**

**Sorry about the super long A/N...**

**Now, without further adou: **

Chapter Twelve

Winning

All nine Suna genin were perched in a large tree just outside Gaara's hospital room.

"It's about time." Kaito smirked as Ayaka and Gaara kissed again. Matsuri was fuming silently beside him.

"They make a really cute couple, don't they?" Mayu commented, smiling. Kaori nodded in agreement. Aeri nudged Yoshino.

"What's going on?" She whispered, confused.

"Gaara and Ayaka are making out!" Susumu announced before Yoshino could respond. Aeri's eyebrows rose.

"Making out...?" Aeri blinked.

"It's like kissing, but with tongue." Yoshino deadpanned. Aeri looked disgusted.

"_What_? Tongue?" She squeaked. Yoshino sighed.

"Nevermind." He grunted. Aeri shrugged.

"Shut up, guys, they're going to kill us if they find out we're out here." Kenta whispered. Everyone fell silent.

...

Ayaka pulled her lips away from Gaara's and leaned in close to his ear, running one hand over the bandages that covered his chest.

"Better stop there, keep it PG for the kids creepily watching us outside the window." She whispered. "Also, you still need time to heal, Panda-kun." Gaara frowned, seeming none-too-pleased.

"You just _love_ to keep me waiting, don't you?" He sighed. Ayaka grinned and kissed his neck lightly, making him shiver.

"Fruit is all the sweeter when you're starving." She said simply. Gaara growled, but allowed her to gently push his chest down, so he was laying on the bed again.

"You're annoying." He grumbled. Ayaka laughed and stood up, wobbling ever-so-slightly before grabbing a crutch that leaned against the wall. Bandages were wound tightly around her left leg, from knee to ankle. Gaara took a moment to inspect her.

Her hair was in a loose braid, her bangs nearly covering the bandage over the stitches on her temple. She wore a simple red tank top and short black shorts. There were also bandages on her arms and right shoulder. Gaara assumed there were some on her back too. She certainly looked worse for wear.

Then again, neither did he. Gaara had bandages covering his entire torso, collarbone to hips, and there were scratches, lacerations and puncture wounds covering his arms and legs. An IV was attached to his wrist, full of a odd purple-y liquid. Probably the antidote to the poison on Sasori's weapons. And another IV, this one with clear liquid. Some kind of nutrient, probably.

But that was beside the point.

"Where are you going?" Gaara frowned. He didn't look pleased.

"To get you some food. By the way, you better get better soon, because Kaito and Susumu are going on to the Final round of the Chunin Exams." She explained, ruffling his hair. And with a wink she was gone.

...

"... So she's not going to kill us?" Susumu asked once Ayaka had left. Kaito shrugged.

"Guess not..." He said slowly.

"Well, since we're alive, Kaori and I are going to go for a walk." Mayu said, waving and flipping out of the tree. Kaori quickly followed.

"... Those two sure spent a lot of time together." Manabu commented once they had gone.

"Of course, silly! They are dating." Kenta said matter-of-the-fact-like. The other six genin looked shocked. "... What?"

"They're dating?" Matsuri asked. Kenta nodded enthusiastically.

"So... Is Kaori a guy or a girl, then?" Susumu asked, eyebrows raised. Kaito elbowed him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kenta blinked, staring at the others blankly. Everyone shook their heads.

"Not at all." Manabu said. Kenta looked thoughtful.

"Hm. Well then. Anyway, Kaori's a girl." He said.

"Cool, there are too many guys around here." Matsuri commented with a smile, looking pointedly at Susumu. Susumu glared at her and crossed his arms.

"I'm awesome." He said. Matsuri scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Right. And you're totally humble, too." She sneered. Susumu grinned.

"Exactly." He agreed. Matsuri facepalmed. Kaito sighed.

"So... Who wants to get ramen?" Kenta asked. The other six nodded or shrugged. "Cool. Let's go."

...

"I'm baaaack!" Ayaka sang, skipping into Gaara's hospital room and pushing a small cart with a tray of food on it. "Sadly, all they have here is fruit. A right shame, really." She said, putting the tray on Gaara's lap, plucking a strawberry from a bowl of mixed berries and popping it into her mouth.

"A same indeed." Gaara deadpanned, grabbing an apple. Ayaka smirked. "So, how long am I going to be stuck here?" He asked. Ayaka tapped her chin, taking another strawberry.

"Well, your wounds will need at least a few days to heal, but if that were the only thing wrong you could leave today with promise of not straining yourself. The real problem is the poison, but as you can see," She paused and gestured to the IV with the purple liquid. "they've developed an antidote. However, the poison significantly weakened your body, it'll need time to recuperate. Considering you've already been out for a week... I'd say another three to five days, and then a week of taking it easy." Ayaka said. Gaara frowned.

"But Kaito and Susumu passed the exam... They need to be trained for the final round." He protested. Ayaka smiled.

"Don't worry, I worked it all out. I convinced Sasuke Uchiha to train Kaito. The duck-butt head totally hates my guts, but I guess he saw something he liked in Kaito. As for Susumu, I convinced Kiba and Shino to train him. I think he could benefit from both Shino's level-headed strategical fighting style and Kiba'a hot-headed explosive fighting style." Ayaka explained, triumphantly. Gaara smiled slightly.

"You're the best." He sighed. Ayaka grinned.

"That's right. And don't you ever forget it." She said, smugly. Gaara chuckled.

"Don't let it go to your head." He murmured. Ayaka crossed her arms with a huff.

"I'm not letting it go to my head." She grumbled. Gaara smirked.

"You are." He said.

"I'm not!" Ayaka exclaimed.

"You are." Gaara's smirk widened.

"I AM NOT!" Ayaka yelled, leaning closer to Gaara.

"You are." Gaara looked bored.

"I AM NOT! LIES!" Ayaka shouted, standing up and wobbling from the room, slamming the door shut. Gaara chuckled.

'_Five... Four... Three... Two... One-_' Ayaka limped back in, scowling.

"Forgot my crutch..." She grumbled sulkily. Gaara held back a laugh, grabbing Ayaka's wrist and pulling her onto the bed beside him. Ayaka glared at him. "I'm still mad at you."

"No, you're not. You just hate losing." Gaara smirked, pulling her closer. Ayaka turned her head away to glare at the wall.

"No. I'm mad at you." She pouted. Gaara's smirk grew.

"No, you're not." He whispered, leaning closer to her, until his lips brushed her earlobe. Ayaka shivered involuntarily.

"... I'm mad at you." She muttered, crossing her arms. Gaara lightly kissed her jawbone, snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. Ayaka bit her lip, and finally gave up, putting her arms loosely around Gaara's neck and kissed him, at first gently, but then hungrily.

'_I win_.' Gaara thought, although he didn't dare to say it out loud. He was content with his silent victory. One of Ayaka's hands wove through his hair. Okay, make that very content. Ecstatic, really.

'**Wow. I'm surprised, kid. Who knew you could seduce a woman? I never would have guessed.**' The Shukaku rumbled in Gaara's head. Gaara growled under his breath.

'_Shut up, you're ruining the moment.' _He snapped. The Shukaku retreated just as footsteps stopped outside the door. Ayaka and Gaara moved away as the door opened and Tsunade walked in with Sakura, Neji, Lee and Tenten. Tsunade took one look at the blushing teens and smirked slightly.

"Is this a bad time?"

...

"Deidara's _dead_? He can't be dead!" Kage's eyes widened as he stared at Sasara, who simply shrugged her stiff shoulders.

"He was stupid, as usual." She said. The three fake genin exchanged a glance. Yuudai frowned, watching Sasara carefully.

'_Just as I suspected, we're all expendable to the Akatsuki. Even one of their own are. I'll have to be careful._' He glanced at Lylith and Kage. '_Those two are too dense to figure it out, they'll likely be killed... I'll just have to stop the same from happening to me._' He thought, smirking slightly.

"Anyway, Deidara's death is beside the point. The One-tails escaped, and so did that loathsome spy." Sasara clenched her fists. "However, they were both weakened. The sooner we act, the less likely it is that they can fight back."

"Why not just attack them now?" Lylith asked. Sasara turned to look at the girl with blank eyes.

"They are in the hospital. The only way we could pull that off is an assassination under the cover of night, and even then, the One-tails never sleeps, and they are sure to have an ANBU team watching their room. We'll have to be patient." Sasara sighed. "Ugh, I hate being patient..."

And with that the puppet was gone.

...

"These are the Jonin that will be guarding you until you two are well. Neji Hyuuga, Rock Lee and Tenten." Tsunade introduced as Sakura left, just having finished checking Ayaka and Gaara. Neji nodded, Lee smiled blindingly and did a thumbs-up, and Tenten waved. Gaara and Ayaka exchanged a glance.

"Lady Tsunade..." Ayaka began.

"...Is this completely necessary?" Gaara finished. Tsunade put her hands on her hips.

"Obviously. Neither of you are in any condition to take a leisurely stroll, let alone fight. And you have the Akatsuki after you. Do. Not. Argue." Tsunade growled the last part, looming over the pair. Ayaka sighed and Gaara looked annoyed, but they both gave a slight nod.

"Fine." Gaara relented. Tsunade grinned.

"Good. Then I'll leave you in capable hands." She said, walking out. Neji walked over to the window and leaned against the wall beside it, Tenten sat on a chair beside the door and Lee sat in the corner. Gaara and Ayaka exchanged an awkward glance. Ayaka slowly stood and hobbled to her bed across the room, picking up two books. She threw one at Gaara before sitting on her bed and opening her own book.

'_Dear lord... I so want to break this silence... But that Neji guy looks intense... I'd better not... Then again... Hm..._' Ayaka mused, not actually paying attention to the book.

"Takahashi-san... Your book is upside-down." Neji commented. Ayaka blinked and looked up, to see Neji staring out the window. She shivered.

'_That Byakugan thing is creepy..._' She frowned and looked at the book. It was indeed upside-down. There was a sudden knock at the door. Tenten opened it and Kaito, Matsuri and Susumu walked in. Ayaka and Gaara both straightened up.

"Hey kiddies! How was your first day of chunin exam training?" Ayaka asked. Susumu and Kaito shrugged.

"Shino said I'm an idiot like Kiba. Then Kiba attacked him." Susumu said. Ayaka facepalmed.

"Uchiha hates me. With a passion." Kaito said. He looked a lot more battered than Susumu did.

"I'm sure he doesn't _hate_ you..." Ayaka said slowly. Kaito shook his head.

"He does. He told me." He retorted. Ayaka sighed.

"Uchiha hates everyone." Neji stated calmly. Ayaka glanced at him. He was now watching her intently.

'_HOLY SHIT, HE'S CREEPY!' _Ayaka nodded slowly. "Yeah..." She heard Tenten snicker from beside her.

"Don't worry, he's a lot nicer than he looks." She whispered. Neji glared at her.

"I heard that." He grumbled. Tenten smirked.

"Good." She replied. Neji rolled his opaque eyes. Kaito and Susumu were looking between Neji, Ayaka and Tenten in confusion. Matsuri was talking animatedly to Gaara. Gaara looked bored.

"So..." Ayaka looked at Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee. "... Do you know where I can get some pie?" Gaara facepalmed.

"Ayaka... " He murmured. Ayaka smiled.

"You know you want some pie, Panda-kun." She teased. Gaara shook his head, but decided against arguing.

"Whatever you say." He sighed. Ayaka grinned.

"I win! Finally!" She exclaimed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Neji rub his temple, irritated.

"YOU'RE SO YOUTHFUL!" Lee yelled, giving Ayaka a bone-crushing hug. Ayaka struggled for air as Neji and Tenten hauled Lee back into the corner.

"Wow... Is that guy for real?" Ayaka asked, rubbing her ribs. Neji and Tenten sighed and answered in unison.

"Unfortunately."

**So, yeah. That's it for now. To summarize the A/N at the beginning:**

**-In no way related to Charlie Sheen.**

**-Probably not going to update for a while. Sorry... I really am (this is why I'm doing the one-shot/first chapter of stories thing, so I feel less guilty).**

**-Might post the first chapters of a few new stories and continue the most liked.**

**-If you want, send in story/one-shot requests (preferably one-shot) and I might do them (all depends if I think I can do it without butchering it). I'll probably accept it even if I think I'll fuck it up, because I'm a push-over... . But don't let that stop you. :)**

**-Sorry for all the filler/awkward kissing scenes.**

**-Thanks for reading, and please review! :)**

**Gosh, you guys are way too awesome for me. I love you all, readers and reviewers (and both) alike. ^_^**


	13. One Month to Train

**Holy shit. I actually finished this chapter... O.O Although it seems pretty dis-jointed to me. It doesn't flow nearly as well as I wish it would, especially the last bit...**

**Oh well, at least we're getting somewhere, right? Right...**

Chapter Thirteen

One Month to Train

**-One Week Later-**

Kaito grunted as he hit the ground, rolling into a crouch and narrowly avoiding the ten kunai Sasuke sent at him. Within milliseconds the Uchiha appeared in front of him, a cool katana blade pressed against the younger boy's throat.

"You'll have to be faster if you want to beat that Amegakure ninja." Was all Sasuke said, re-sheathing his katana in one fluid motion. Kaito stood slowly, panting and wiping sweat from his green eyes, which were dull with exhaustion.

"He's only a genin..." The silver-haired boy murmured, leaning against a tree and watching Sasuke. Even as he said this, we knew it wasn't true. Yuudai had nearly crushed Kenta in the pre-lims, and Kaito had a feeling he had been holding back. It was worrying.

"You should never underestimate your opponent." Sasuke stated coldly. Kaito frowned, dropping his gaze to the grass.

"No need to bite my head off." He grumbled. Sasuke made a low growling sound in the back of his throat.

"If you don't take this seriously, I'm not going to continue to train you. I have better things to do than babysitting you." He snarled, glaring viciously at Kaito. Kaito crossed his arms and glared back, unflinching.

"Well sorry, but I just don't see how you beating the crap out of me is helping." He retorted. Sasuke huffed and rolled his eyes.

"You don't notice it, but you're slowly improving your speed and strength as we spar. You're a pretty strong kid, so the change isn't going to come as quickly as you'd like. You have to be patient." Kaito was slightly surprised, he hadn't expected that. Sasuke's gaze locked with his. "Trust me."

"Yeah, improving my speed and strength is good and all, but I seriously doubt that's all I'll need to pass the exam." Kaito replied. Sasuke sighed.

"I didn't want to have to do this... But I guess I can teach you a new technique." He relented. Kaito's eyes narrowed.

"What kind of technique?"

...

"Never underestimate your opponent, no matter how small they may seem." Shino said calmly, standing in front of Susumu. Kiba and Akamaru sat beside him, looking bored.

"And remember, the weaker you are, the louder you bark." Kiba added, staring at the sky. Shino nodded in agreement. Susumu looked between them.

"What are you two talking about?" He asked. Kiba and Shino exchanged a glance and sighed in unison.

"Never mind."

...

"Come on, Aeri, you can do better than that." Temari yelled, waving her fan. The sharp wind cut down the tree Aeri had been perched in and the girl flipped to the ground, landing lightly in a crouch. She straightened up and charged at Temari, swinging her staff. Temari closed her fan and blocked the attack before swinging her weapon at Aeri. It tore through her torso and the pale girl turned to smoke.

Temari turned around, just in time to dodge a staff-swipe to her head. Aeri jumped back, making handsigns.

"Blade of Wind." Aeri murmured. An invisible blade of wind materialized on her hand. She seemed to karate chop the air in front of her, sending a thin blade of wind at Temari.

There was the slightest slicing sound.

Temari quickly jumped to the side, barely dodging the wind blade. Temari nodded in approval as the blade took down a few trees.

"Um... Temari-sensei?" Aeri murmured, putting away her staff. Temari folded her fan and eyed her student with curiosity.

"Yes?" She prodded.

"My... My opponent, Mai Kamaya. She has a very unusual jutsu. I believe it is a kekkei genkai, from what I gather... It recalls memories of pain..." Aeri trailed off, fidgeting slightly. Temari's expression softened.

'_Of course, Aeri hasn't had the best childhood... I had almost forgotten._' She thought absently.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Pain you've already lived through can't kill you." She said quietly, laying a comforting hand on the short girl's shoulder.

"Right. Thank you, Temari-sensei." Aeri said curtly, her voice tight. Temari nodded to herself.

"Let's get started."

...

Yoshino dodged the shadows that sprung at him gracefully. It wasn't really hard. In fact, it was kind of boring. The man that Temari had talked into training him did not seem entirely motivated, to say the least. Suddenly the shadows stopped.

"That's probably enough for today. I have a friend who is going to train with us tomorrow. He specializes in taijutsu." Shikamaru said, lazily. Yoshino scowled under his mask.

"We haven't done much." He grunted. Shikamaru shrugged in a slightly helpless fashion.

"To be honest, I'm not the best person to be teaching you, that's why I asked Lee to help. I only agreed to training you because Temari wouldn't leave me alone." He murmured.

"Lee? Isn't that the green spandex wearing boy who is part of the Jonin team watching over Gaara and Ayaka?" Yoshino asked, stretching. Shikamaru nodded, smirking.

"Yeah, that'd be him. I'm going to be taking his place on the Kazekage's guard team so he can train you." He replied. Yoshino nodded.

"Interesting. Alright."

...

Mayu stood in front of Kurenai, eyeing the older genjutsu specialist warily.

"So you're facing Haruna Inuzuka?" Kurenai asked. Mayu nodded.

"Yes." She replied quietly.

"I think I know just the genjutsu." Kurenai said, pushing back a lock of hair. "It should be perfect, if she's anything like the Inuzuka I'm acquainted with."

...

"How is all your training going?" Daisuke asked. The four teams from Konoha sat in a field as the sunset.

"Anko is a psychopath." Mai stated, sounding none-too-thrilled. Hanako smiled.

"She's not that bad, once you get to know her." She said. Ikari and Hanabi nodded in agreement.

"You're her genin team, I think she's _obligated _to tone down her insanity with you guys." Moegi commented.

"It can't be that bad, training with her?" Chihiro commented lightly. Mai glared icily at him.

"She _bit _me." The white haired girl hissed, her eyes flashing red. Chihiro's usual easy grin faltered slightly in fear.

"Well, my training went well." Shiori spoke up. "Saitoh-sensei is completely sane."

"Lucky you." Mai grumbled.

"I'm training with my father." Hanabi murmured, colourlessly as usual. "He is quite competent."

"Yeah, when you get past the fact that he's a total douche." Ikari mumbled. Hanabi gave him a slightly reprimanding glare, but did not defend Hiashi.

"I'm training with my family too. My mom, actually." Haruna spoke up, trying to defuse the tension.

"I'm training with my uncle. He's way better than Ebisu-sensei." Konohamaru stated.

"You probably shouldn't insult our sensei..." Udon muttered. Konohamaru shrugged.

"He's a total moron." He said. Udon sighed.

"My training is going well." Daisuke cut in smoothly, smiling. "Hana-sensei says my speed is improving." Hanabi gave Daisuke, her opponent for the third stage of the exams, a sidelong glance.

"Who is everyone facing, anyway?" Sora asked, laying back in the grass.

"I've got that Amegakure genin..." Konohamaru paused to think of the name. "Kage Shimizu."

"I'm facing the genjutsu girl from Suna, Mayu." Haruna spoke up cheerfully.

"I'm fighting the cocky one from Suna, Sus... Som..." Shiori paused. "You know, the pervy one."

"Susumu." Hanako offered. Shiori nodded her head.

"Yeah, that guy!" She agreed.

"I'm fighting the blind girl. Aeri Kaminari." Mai's expression darkened. "I wonder if she was born blind."

"Mai... " Sora's tone was one of warning. Mai shrugged.

"What? I'm just curious. It could be to my advantage." She grumbled. Daisuke rolled his eyes.

"Gosh, you and your creepy jutsu..." He mumbled. Mai's eyes flashed red.

"What was that?" She hissed. Daisuke jumped up and cowered behind the closest person, Chihiro.

"Nothing!"

...

Yuudai, Kage and Lylith sat in front of Sasori, and a newly appeared Itachi. Both Akatsuki members were leaning against trees, watching the younger ninja colourlessly.

"I see. So Lylith failed." Sasori murmured, turning his gaze to the two males of the team while Lylith's head bowed slightly, in shame or fear, it was unclear. "But you two have moved on. Who are you facing?"

"I'm facing some Konoha ninja." Kage said, waving his hand in dismissal. Sasori nodded.

"I'm facing Kaito Arashi, as planned." Yuudai said, smirking.

"Excellent." Sasori looked back at Lylith. "Who was the one that bested you?"

"Aeri Kaminari." Lylith murmured. Sasori and Itachi exchanged a mildly interested glance.

"The blind girl from the Hidden Sand?" Itachi murmured, startling the three younger ninja. They had yet to hear him speak until that moment.

"Yes." Lylith nodded.

"Interesting..." Sasori murmured thoughtfully. There was something in his voice that the fake genin couldn't place. Something they didn't know. "We'll have to look out for her."

"Indeed." Itachi agreed. He glanced at the fake genin without interest. "Dismissed."

...

Ayaka and Gaara walked down the road from the hospital slowly. Ayaka had her arm thrown casually around Gaara's waist while his was over her shoulders. The young Kazekage walked stiffly, his muscles screaming in protest at the movement after so long in the hospital bed. He wore simple black pants and a loose black t-shirt, bandages peeking out of his collar and sleeves. Neji, Tenten and Lee followed them about twenty feet behind, talking quietly.

"Wow, you move worse than an old man, Panda-kun." Ayaka teased. Gaara scowled at her flatly.

"You could be a little more sympathetic." He hissed through gritted teeth. Ayaka grinned crookedly at him and kissed his cheek.

"Since when am I sympathetic? Tough love all the way." She said lightly. Gaara snorted. Ayaka's expression twisted mischievously and she ducked out from under Gaara's arm and danced out of his reach, causing the redhead to stumble and fall forward. Ayaka appeared beside him and stuck her arm out, effectively stopping his fall. Gaara blinked, staring at the dirt road an few inches from his nose.

"What the _hell _was that?" He growled as Ayaka pulled him to his feet. Ayaka smiled smugly.

"Tough love." She said, pulling Gaara against her and brushing her lips across his briefly. Just as quickly, she moved away and began helping him walk again.

"That's not 'tough love' that's cruel." Gaara mumbled, pouting ever-so-slightly. Ayaka laughed loudly, startling Team Gai.

"Same thing."

**I just had to bring in Itachi, okay? I HAD to. **

**And because I know you guys will be curious (and because I just could not find a place for it in the chapter), here is the list of the pre-lim matches: (the winners are in brackets)**

**(Hanabi) vs. Ikari**

**(Mai) vs. Hachiro**

**(Daisuke) vs. Etsuko**

**(Kaito) vs. Chihiro**

**(Konohamaru) vs. Hanako**

**(Susumu) vs. Moegi**

**(Aeri) vs. Lylith**

**(Yoshino) vs. Sora**

**(Mayu) vs. Udon**

**(Nikko) vs. Manabu**

**(Yuudai) vs. Kenta**

**(Kage) vs. Matsuri**

**(Haruna) vs. Kaori**

**(Shiori) vs. Nameless Konoha Ninja**

**And the final round matches are:**

**Konohamaru vs. Kage**

**Mayu vs. Haruna**

**Susumu vs. Shiori**

**Hanabi vs. Daisuke**

**Aeri vs. Mai**

**Yoshino vs. Nikko**

**Kaito vs. Yuudai**


End file.
